


Seasons of Love

by thewritingnymph



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 17:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13323114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewritingnymph/pseuds/thewritingnymph
Summary: Katya and Sasha are childhood friends who have recently moved to New York from Russia, and take jobs working at a coffee shop when Katya falls in love from afar with the beautiful blonde working there. Will she find happiness and peace, or are there obstacles in her way that will push her onto a different past? Will Sasha find love and friends and settle down in a completely new area? Neither of them know, but the course of true love never did run smoothly...





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic I started late last year and published over on tumblr at Artificial Queens. It's not yet finished, but once I get all the current chapters up on here, I'll post the rest as they happen! Hope you enjoy xoxo

“We need to get jobs,” Katya’s lazy voice sounded from where she was doing a headstand behind the sofa.

“I have a job,” Sasha muttered back indistinctly. Her mouth was currently filled with several different paintbrushes, the colourful drips that were adding to the pattern on her jeans going unchecked. Katya rolled her eyes as she kicked her legs back down to the ground and stood up, holding onto the wall for support as all the blood rushed back to her head.

“You can’t call your art a job until it starts paying the bills,” Katya told her, ducking as Sasha threw a paintbrush in her general direction. “Hey! Don’t start on me, I don’t make the rules.”

The pair had moved to New York from Yaroslavl only two weeks ago, and had spent most of the time either upside down on a yoga mat (Katya), or absorbed in a multi-media art project (Sasha). They hadn’t really left their tiny Brooklyn apartment, or even gotten to know the neighbours, and Katya felt like she was going slightly stir crazy. She was naturally more social than her friend, and the lack of social interaction (and if she was entirely honest, alcohol), was making her feel antsy.

“If we don’t find jobs soon Barbra, we’re going to run out of cash, and then it will be straight back to Russia, and you know what that means,” Katya continued, tugging her hair out of it’s ponytail holder, and sharing a look with Sasha. Neither of them could afford to go back to Russia, and if they weren’t careful, neither of them would be able to afford to stay in New York.

“Fine,” Sasha conceded, placing her brushes in a mason jar of water and spinning to face Katya properly. “You’re right. One day my art will pay the bills, but right now-”

“We need to get jobs in that coffee shop across the street!” Katya finished brightly, smile firmly in place against Sasha’s now accusatory gaze.

“That coffee shop? What, there’s no other jobs in the whole of New York available for us?”

Katya kept her smile in place, the twinkling of mischief in her eye the only giveaway that she was up to something. Luckily for Sasha, she’d known Katya for far too long not to realise what the blonde Russian was up to.

“It’s convenient!” Katya protested, seeing Sasha’s expression not change.

“Convenient huh? And that’s the only reason you want us to work there?” Sasha asked slowly, folding her arms over her chest. Katya still didn’t back down.

“Convenient. It’s right across the street! We could literally fall out of bed and into that shop, and we have done, because I tripped over the doorstep when I went to get Sunday morning bagels,” Katya told her, biting her lip when she realised what she’d given away.

“Right. And you falling into the shop had nothing to do with the beautiful tall blonde stood behind the counter, right?”

Bullseye.

“I-” Katya’s mouth hung open as she stared at Sasha, the realisation dawning on her that she’d not kept her little crush as secret as she thought she had. Sasha grinned triumphantly, her art piece completely abandoned at this point.

“I knew it! You’ve been going out and getting coffee a lot, but only at specific times. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. You’re not very good at hiding your crushes,” Sasha laughed as Katya flailed around, trying and failing to find the words to defend herself.

“So I have a little crush on the beautiful barista, that’s not a crime! I mean, have you seen her? She’s gorgeous,” Katya sighed, her eyes glazing over with lust.

“Put your tongue away, I can practically hear you salivating over her,” Sasha shook her head, her eyes glinting with the fun of the situation. “I’m surprised you kept her to yourself, usually you tell me about all the objects of your desire.”

Katya flushed, a delicate pink that coloured her pale cheeks and descended down into the high neckline of her shirt dress. Sasha was right. Usually the second Katya had fallen in complete lust with someone, she was on the phone to her best friend, describing the crush in great detail, much to Sasha’s delight. But for some unknown reason, she hadn’t wanted to do the same with this new- well, she didn’t even know her name. But like Shakespeare always said, what’s in a name? Katya would much rather be able to see her ass. It was a fine ass.

“This one is different,” Katya said, injecting a note of impatience into her voice so Sasha wouldn’t probe. “But now you owe it to me to be my wing woman. I need to get into that woman’s bed.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow.

“And you think getting a job where she works is going to do that? Wouldn’t it be easier to, oh I don’t know, just flirt with her when you go and get coffee? Give her your number? Something normal like that?”

“I can’t just go in and give her my number!” Katya’s voice was horrified, every cell in her body rejecting the notion. “That’s just weird Sasha, who does that?”

“Everyone, Yekaterina. Literally everyone else,” Sasha said with a long suffering sigh, turning back to her canvas and picking up a brush.

“But I’m not everyone else. Besides, we both need to get jobs, you already agreed that. The coffee shop across the road is perfect because not only are they hiring at the moment, but it’s literally right across the street. You couldn’t get a more ideal location! And if a beautiful woman just so happens to work there, and I just so happen to use all of my feminine wiles and impress her with my wonderful work ethic and end up in her bed, well- that’s just the cherry on top,” Katya told her friend, ending her speech with a hair toss and a triumphant grin, knowing that Sasha would give in to her eventually.

“What do I get out of this?” Sasha asked after a few moments in which the gentle scrape of her paintbrush against the canvas was the only sound, and she could practically hear Katya’s thoughts begging her in the background.

“A wonderful job and money so we can continue living here, lots of new friends, and free coffee.”

“I don’t know Kat, doesn’t sound like a great deal to me,” Sasha said carefully, trying not to let the grin on her face come through in her voice.

Katya huffed impatiently, and folded her arms over her chest.

“Don’t be a dick Brenda. If you apply to the coffee shop with me, I’ll do all the cooking and all the laundry for a month.”

“I don’t know,” Sasha dragged her words out, having to bite back a laugh as she felt Katya’s annoyance grow.

“Two months. Please? I can’t let this opportunity pass me by,” Katya begged, contemplating whether or not she should just drop to her knees and lose the last little shred of dignity she’d been clinging on to for years.

“Three months, and I’ll go down there with you now and we can hand our resumes in,” Sasha finally conceded, putting her brushes down once more and spinning to face Katya, catching the look of absolute joy that flashed on her friends face and lit up her eyes.

“Yes! I knew you’d come through for me,” Katya grinned, flying over to press a kiss to Sasha’s cheek, before producing both of their resumes from where she’d stashed them in a book on their coffee table earlier. Sasha just looked at her in disbelief.

“You planned this, didn’t you?”

***************************************

An hour passed before the pair were ready to go and hand in their resumes to the coffee shop. Sasha kept finding pieces on her art that she just had to do right then and there, and Katya kept flouncing in and out of her bedroom, showcasing a different outfit each time to try and find the perfect one.

“What about this?” Katya asked, appearing at the doorway once more in a tight dress decorated with knives. Sasha glanced briefly at it, bursting into laughter as she caught sight of the monstrosity.

“I know you love that dress, but you can’t be serious.”

Katya’s eyes opened wide in indignation as she tugged at the hemline, ready to open her mouth and object when Sasha chimed in with an explanation.

“Knives, Katya. You can’t turn up at a potential place of work asking for a job in a dress decorated with knives. You think that’ll get you the job or the girl?” she asked, gesturing in Katya’s direction with a paint spattered brush to drive her point home. Katya’s mouth opened and closed several times as she tried to find the words, before she finally sighed and headed back into her bedroom once more.

“Why do you always have to be right?” she called over her shoulder, pulling the tight material off of her body and discarding it on the growing pile in the corner.

“One of us has to have some working brain cells,” Sasha called back, and paused before she added “And put your clothes away! Dirty slob.”

“Fuck off,” was Katya’s only answer as she stood in front of the open closet, staring in despair at the rail of clothes hanging in front of her, taunting her and her inability to put together an outfit that screamed ‘business fish, but quite happy to get railed in the back room at a moment’s notice’. It was a particular angle, but one that she was determined to pull off if she was ever going to start her campaign of getting in the cute barista’s bed.

“And don’t even think about wearing that Contact dress,” Sasha added, Katya immediately dropping the stretchy fabric like it was a hot potato.

“What do I wear then?” she asked, flipping through the remainder of her wardrobe, contemplating just giving up there and then and just going in the shop to expose her asshole to the cute barista instead. Well, if it worked for dogs-

“Just put on something short and black and be done with it, we need to go now or the place is going to close,” Sasha said, appearing in the doorway to Katya’s bedroom with her arms folded over her chest. Katya flipped her off, and pulled out a short black dress before quickly changing into it, and slipped her feet into a pair of black boots. Running her hands through her already messed up hair, she turned to Sasha with a grin.

“Ready to manifest my destiny?”

Sasha’s only reply was an eye roll, and to beckon Katya to follow her out of their apartment, tucking a set of keys into her pocket as they passed through the entrance hall.

It didn’t take them long at all to get to the coffee shop. When Katya had said it was across the street from their apartment, it was literally across the street.

Sasha pushed open the door, the chime above jangling to let the barista behind the counter know that someone had entered the shop. The aproned woman turned around to greet the pair, and Sasha felt the floor drop out beneath her.

“Uh- um- hi,” she managed to stutter out as she approached the counter, Katya following not far behind her, completely oblivious to Sasha’s shock and awe at seeing such an exquisite specimen of a woman in front of her. “We-” Sasha trailed off, and pushed Katya in front of her, the Russian brandishing two sheets of paper.

“We’d like to apply for jobs here,” she announced, her eyes darting around the shop in an attempt to catch sight of the reason she was there in the first place. “My name is Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, but everyone just calls me Katya. And this is my friend Sasha. Sasha Velour. We’re from Russia.”

The woman wiped her hands on her apron and took the resumes from Katya, casting an eye over them.

“My name’s Shea Coulee. Shea. Everyone calls me Shea,” she introduced herself, catching Sasha’s eye and smiling. Sasha flushed a deep red and glanced down at the floor, unable to maintain eye contact, managing to stop just short of actually squeaking.

“We’ve never worked in a coffee shop before, but we’ve both worked in clothes shops back in Russia, and we’re real women, ready and eager to learn,” Katya continued with a grin, hoping that the longer she talked, the more likelihood there was that the cute barista she was after would pop up.

“Enthusiasm is good,” Shea said quietly as she took a closer look at the resumes, before looking up and glancing into the closed off section to the side. “And we are pretty desperate right now. Alaska! Come here, these girls want a job.”

To Katya’s immense relief, the woman- Alaska - was exactly the person she wanted to see, and a big grin stretched over her face as she stepped closer to the counter, offering her hand with a fluttering of her lashes.

“Hi,” she said quietly, shaking Alaska’s hand and holding onto it for longer than custom required. “I’m Katya.”

“Alaska,” the taller woman replied, smiling at Katya.

Katya’s knees turned to jelly, and she almost had to clutch at the counter to stop herself from descending in an ungraceful heap on the floor. Sasha bit back a laugh, having managed to compose herself after her initial shock. Alaska and Shea were conferring in quiet voices, before turning back to the pair.

“Look, we wouldn’t usually do this, but we’re completely desperate. We’ve had three girls walk out on us in the past week and we can’t keep this shop open by ourselves. Would you be able to start tomorrow?” Alaska asked, Katya’s eyes widening in shock as she nodded.

“Sure! What time do you need us?” was her reply, although she knew that at this point if Alaska asked her to jump, her only response would be ‘how high?’.

Sasha tuned out as the pair spoke business, knowing Katya would get it all sorted out and tell her what she was doing. Usually it was the other way around, but she wasn’t about to deny Katya a chance to get to know the reason they were there in the first place, and it gave Sasha a chance to examine Shea. The dark skinned woman was potentially the most beautiful woman Sasha had ever seen, with eyes that felt like they reached into her soul, and curves that burnt themselves into her long term memory.

Suddenly, the prospect of working in the coffee shop didn’t seem such a bad one.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katya and Sasha ready themselves for the first day of work

“Рыбка, what the fuck are you doing? You’ve been sat there since we came back, and I haven’t even seen you move.”

Katya popped her head round the bedroom door, where she’d been lounging on her bed and watching reruns of Twin Peaks. Sasha didn’t move, her unseeing gaze still fixed on the blank white slate in front of her, her right hand gripped around the barrel of a ball-point pen, a sketchbook open in front of her with doodles littering the page. Katya took in the scene, and re-evaluated.

“You’ve moved your hand, whatever,” Katya waved away the minor detail, and continued. “I thought we’d agreed on the way back from the shop that we were going to go and get cocktails to celebrate?”

Still silence from Sasha. Katya’s expression morphed into one of confusion as she walked closer to her friend, waving her hand in front of Sasha’s face.

“This is planet earth calling Sasha Velour, will you open your mouth and reply?” Katya tried once more to get the Russian to respond to her, but to no avail. Sasha was clearly so lost in her thoughts that even Katya couldn’t get through to her, an occurrence that had only happened to the pair twice before in their long years of friendship.

Katya’s eye was caught by one of the doodles on the page in front of Sasha, and she picked it up to take a closer look.

“Hey! Leave my book alone!” The movement was the thing to finally drag Sasha out of her trance, and she snatched her book back from Katya, but not before the blonde had gotten a look at the hastily drawn, rough sketch.

“Sorry! I’m sorry, you’re not usually precious about that book!” Katya held her hands up in surrender, before looking at Sasha curiously, the younger girl flushing under her gaze as she clutched the black book to her chest.

“What is it Kat?” Sasha snapped, before wincing and looking up at Katya. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean- what is it?”

“Why is there a drawing of the other girl from the coffee shop in your sketchbook. Shea, wasn’t it? I think her name was Shea.”

“Yeah, she’s Shea,” was Sasha’s nearly inaudible response before she lapsed into silence, once more lost in the memory of their short interaction in the coffee shop, not being able to shake that perfect face and the beautiful voice from her mind.

It took Katya surprisingly long to put two and two together, and she just about kicked herself when she worked out what was going on.

“Sasha, have you got a little crush?” she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence, the grin on her face betraying her excitement at the thought. Unlike Katya, Sasha didn’t fall in love with everything that breathed and moved, and it always excited her when her friend fell for someone. Even back in Russia, when the pair of them had had to keep most of their feelings and crushes under wraps, and only speak of them in the privacy of Katya’s bedroom.

“Of course no-” Sasha broke off at the knowing look on Katya’s face, and she let out a deep breath. “Not a crush. I’m not a whore like you. But Shea is…she’s something else, isn’t she?” Sasha’s deep voice was dreamy as her lips formed Shea’s name, and Katya had to stop herself from laughing at the lovesick expression.

“She’s no Alaska, but she is gorgeous,” Katya admitted, placing her bottom on Sasha’s knee and wrapping her arms around her friend’s neck, grinning down at her fellow Russian in utter delight.

Sasha laughed, placing her hands on Katya’s waist to keep the other girl from toppling off and ruining her artwork.

“You look like a shark when you smile like that,” was all she had to say in response, Katya’s grin only widening.

“Good job you’re not the one I want to seduce then,” she said, before adding; “But I could, if I wanted to.”

Sasha rolled her eyes at Katya’s words, knowing what Katya’s attempts to seduce her looked like, having been subjected to her flirting every single time they got even the slightest bit tipsy together. Katya’s only response had always been that she had needs, and Sasha had lovely hands that she knew how to use.

“In your dreams Kat. Only in your dreams.”

Katya cackled, her smoker’s laugh wheezy as she kicked her legs. “I’ve had plenty of wonderful dreams, don’t you worry. But aren’t you glad I made you apply to the cafe now? I knew it would all work out.” Katya’s tone was one of triumph, and Sasha knew how stupidly proud Katya was of herself for what she would see as setting Sasha and Shea up.

“I’m- I’m not completely mad at you. It seems well paid, Alaska and Shea seem really nice, and it’s a cute cafe,” Sasha admitted after a moment or two of silence, reluctant to give Kayta the praise she was so clearly craving.

“Good enough for me!” Katya declared, hopping off of Sasha’s lap and heading into their tiny kitchenette to dig out the various takeaway leaflets they’d collected over the past two weeks, pausing as she opened the drawer to glance back at Sasha. “By the way, I had my fingers crossed when I promised to do the laundry and stuff for three months, suck on that.”

Sasha burst out laughing at the look of sheer pride that crossed Katya’s face at her words, and couldn’t even be mad at her friend.

“I wasn’t letting you anywhere near my clothes anyway,” Sasha called, a grin dancing around the edges of her lips. “Last time you tried you shrank my favourite white shirt, and turned everything pink. I’m not completely masochistic.”

Katya ignored her in favour of bringing over reams and reams of leaflets, a little in awe about just how many they’d managed to collect, and even more in awe of the fact that they’d already managed to order dinner from over half of the food outlets.

“What do you fancy for dinner tonight?” she asked, spreading out the menus on Sasha’s desk, ignoring Sasha’s protests to watch her stuff. “We had Indian last night, Thai the night before…” Katya hummed under her breath, sorting through the leaflets, discarding the ones she didn’t want. Sasha sighed and stuck her hand out, taking one for an Italian place they hadn’t tried yet.

“I want pasta,” she told Katya, who pursed her lips and nodded in agreement.

“I could go for some pizza,” she replied, taking the menu from Sasha and flipping through it, as the other girl took the discarded menus and bundled them all back together in a neat pile. “You want the bolognese?”

The rest of the evening was spent in a comfortable bubble of good Italian food, good shitty reality television, and gentle barbs sent between the two friends about their respective crushes. They didn’t end up making it out to Katya’s newest favourite cocktail bar, but neither cared that much. Their friendship was one that didn’t have much room for other people to enter, so intense had it been over the past few years with all their struggles back home in Russia.

It was nearing midnight when Sasha yawned and stretched, glancing over at Katya with a smile.

“We should head to bed, it’s an early start in the morning.”

Katya groaned, pulling a cushion over her head and closing her eyes tightly. “Don’t remind me. I didn’t think about that part when I suggested applying to the coffee shop,” she sighed, knowing that she’d not thought about the work at all, that her entire focus had been on the beautiful barista she wanted to fuck.

“It’ll be fine. We’ve both dealt with shitty customers before, and at least we know the company will be good,” Sasha laughed, rolling off of the couch and pressing a gentle kiss to Katya’s cheek. “I’ll come in and wake you in the morning.”

***************************************

True to her word, Sasha crept into Katya’s room just before seven the next morning, and threw open the curtains to let the morning sunshine stream into the room.

“Good morning sunshine,” Sasha grinned as she pulled back the covers a groggy Katya had tugged over her head. The only response she got was a cat-like hiss.

“Just get dressed and I’ll make us something for breakfast, you truly won’t get laid if you show up late on our first day,” Sasha laughed, folding the duvet down to the end of the bed and heading back out of Katya’s room. “Try and look at least vaguely normal.”

Ten minutes later found Katya wandering into the living room of their apartment, resplendent in a shirt dress, fishnet tights, and boots. Sasha glanced her up and down, noted that the pattern, although a problem, was inoffensive, and decided to leave it. If Alaska was going to get to know Katya in an intimate way the way the Russian wanted, she might as well know what she was getting herself in to.

“There’s eggs in the pan, and toast in the toaster, do what you want with it,” Sasha called over her shoulder as she headed into her own bedroom to change out of her pyjamas. Katya grunted in response, making a beeline for the percolator that had been their very first purchase for the apartment. Neither were very good at functioning until they’d downed their first cup of coffee, and Sasha was very good at getting up and making a pot for them before Katya had even opened her eyes.

Pouring far too much creamer and sugar into the dark liquid, Katya took the first, rejuventating sip, and felt some life pour itself back into her veins. Between sips of coffee she fixed herself a breakfast of eggs on toast, sprinkled over some salt and pepper to make herself feel like a real chef, and sat down on the couch to enjoy it.

“Are you nervous?” Katya called into the air, projecting her voice enough so that Sasha would be able to hear her from her bedroom.

“About what?”

“About starting this job,” Katya asked impatiently, shovelling forkful after forkful of egg into her mouth, washing it down with the last dregs of her coffee.

“Not really,” Sasha called back, her tone thoughtful. “I’m not worried about the job, it looks like such a nice cafe. And I’m not worried about the bosses either,” she laughed, buttoning up her shirt and tucking it into a knee length black pencil skirt.

“That’s because you want to fuck one of them, and I want the other,” Katya agreed, staring forlornly into the bottom of her empty cup. “It’s going to be good, and at least we won’t get evicted,” she added with a laugh, glancing up to see Sasha stood in front of her.

“This doesn’t look too formal, does it?” she asked anxiously, smoothing down her skirt, and fixing a pin to the collar of her shirt.

“You look amazing,” Katya told her, dropping her usual act and offering up a sincere compliment, knowing that even if Sasha had said that she wasn’t nervous, her friend was sure to be feeling a little anxious. Katya knew her signs, and also knew not to call her out on it.

Katya stood up from the sofa and threw her arms around Sasha in glee.

“This is the beginning of the rest of our lives,” she began, her grave tone contrasting with the twinkle of fun glinting in her eye. “Lets not fuck it up.”

“I’m not the one likely to fuck this up,” Sasha pointed out, quite reasonably she thought. “I’m more worried about you. Please just- I love you for all your quirks, but we have to talk to unsuspecting members of the public, who don’t know you.”

“They’re going to love me,” Katya proclaimed with utmost confidence as she let go of Sasha and packed her favourite rucksack with a water bottle, her keys, and a fan. “Everyone does, they can’t help themselves.“

Sasha rolled her eyes as she pulled her own shoes on and gave herself one last glance over in the mirror.

“Well, this is it.” The quiver in her voice betrayed the slight anxiety that was bubbling in the pit of her stomach, and Katya linked her arm through Sasha’s.

“It’s just a job, c’mon. We’re going to be fine,” she said gently as the pair exited the apartment and headed to the cafe. “A job where we’re working for two beautiful ladies surrounded by delicious cake. It sounds like an absolute dream, right? Well, it’s going to be our reality!”

Katya kept up the inane, mindless chatter the whole way to the coffee shop, trying to keep Sasha out of her head and in the present moment. That had always been the one discernible different between the two friends. Katya was someone who lived fiercely in the present, living life from one moment to the next and never really stopping to think about the future. Sasha was the complete opposite, and spent most of her time trapped in her own thoughts, spending hour after hour planning what her future was going to be. Putting the two together should have never worked, but they managed to complement each other nicely, Katya forcing Sasha to enjoy what was happening right then and there, Sasha making sure Katya wasn’t floating adrift and paddleless towards an uncertain future.

They paused outside the door, and looked at each other.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the girls muddle through their first day of work at the coffee shop, but it’s harder than it looks when there’s distractions around

“-and then you press this button, and the cash drawer will open for you to count the change. Sound easy enough?” Shea’s dulcet tones filtered through Sasha’s brain without leaving much of the useful information behind as she explained to the Russian how to use the cash register.

Sasha knew she needed to pay more attention to what Shea was actually saying in order to actually be able to do her job, but it wasn’t her fault that Shea’s lips shaping the words was captivatingly beautiful, and that she was more distracted by the slight citrusy scent wafting from the other girl. Pulling herself out of her head, Sasha forced herself to respond to Shea with a nod, switching her eyes back to the machine in front of her, the buttons and words still looking completely incomprehensible. But it couldn’t be that hard, right? Put in the drink, press the button, count the change. A baby could do that in it’s sleep. Well, not a baby. But definitely a toddler.

“Sure!” Sasha replied, injecting a note of false confidence into her voice to try and reassure Shea that her newest employee wouldn’t fuck up.

Fake it till you make it.

The mantra ran round and round Sasha’s head as she smiled at Shea, was blindsided by the smile in response, and stared longingly after the other girl as she headed into the back, presumably to check that Katya and Alaska weren’t setting fire to the shop. When the perfect ass- Shea - had disappeared around the corner, Sasha turned her attention back to the foreign machine in front of her, taking a deep breath as she ran long fingers over the numbered buttons. This had to be easier than it looked, the anxiety gripping her chest was completely unnecessary. Besides, not knowing what half of the buttons did was completely her own fault for not absorbing the information Shea had been imparting.

“Uh, hello?’ Sasha’s thoughts were interrupted by an impatient sounding voice coming from the other side of the counter, and she glanced up to see an irritated woman in a business suit, her hair pulled back into a tight bun.

Sasha had to resist the instinctive urge to shrink back or run away from the intimidating glare coming from the cold blue eyes, and instead plastered on the best fake grin she could muster.

“Hi!” She greeted, all too aware of her still too thick Russian accent. “What can I get for you today?”

“Small latte. Skinny, half caffeinated, in a paper cup.” The order was barked out efficiently, in the manner of an army drill sergeant. Clearly this was a no-nonsense woman used to ordering everyone in her life around, and it worked on Sasha.

She grabbed a small take away cup and a sharpie, scribbled out the order in a barely legible hand on the side of the paper cup, and placed it by the espresso machines for the girl there to start making, before staring down at the till in complete dismay. She couldn’t lie to herself any longer, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, and knew that she should have told Shea before the other woman walked away. Katya truly was going to hate her when Sasha got herself fired from the job before they’d even been there for two hours.

“Are you completely incompetent?” The woman in front of her asked in an incredulous tone, noting the way that Sasha was staring at the machine and not doing much else.

Sasha glanced up in fear, chewing on the edge of her lip as she shook her head, and fumbled to find the words in her scrambled brain to explain herself.

“It’s- it’s my first day here,” she tried, realising how completely pathetic she sounded as the excuse left her lips and hung in the air between the pair. “I- uh, won’t be much longer,” she added hastily.

Her hand hovered over the register, her mind whirring at a million miles an hour. She remembered a little of Shea’s lesson earlier, and was fairly sure that the button she needed to press was this one- or wait, it could be this one.

“Can’t you get someone to help you?” The woman was asking as Sasha felt a presence appear behind her, and Shea’s smooth tones filtered into her ear, filling Sasha with a mixture of relief and embarrassment.

“What’s going on here?” Shea asked, glancing between the irate woman and the blushing Sasha.

“Your staff are useless,” the woman practically spat, pointing an accusatory finger in Sasha’s direction. The Russian had never wished so hard for the ground to open up and swallow her before.

Shea kept a genial smile on her face as she nodded.

“I’m sure Sasha explained to you that this is her first day, so I’ll thank you not to be so rude about my staff,” came Shea’s response, Sasha’s eyes darting towards her in shock. There was an undercurrent of anger to Shea’s positive tone, and she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but a big part of her was amazed that Shea seemed to be standing up for her. She thought so anyway, she couldn’t quite tell.

“What was your order?”

The woman impatiently repeated it, and Shea efficiently rang up her order, Sasha making sure to actually focus and take in what she was doing this time. With one last glance at Sasha, the woman click-clacked down to the end of the bar to wait for her drink, and Sasha waited in a tense silence as the girl on the bar (Trixie, Sasha was fairly sure her name was) lidded the drink and handed it off.

“Have a lovely day!” Shea called after her retreating back, before sharing a look with Sasha, who still wasn’t entirely certain she wasn’t going to be let go.

“Don’t pay bitches like her no mind,” Shea said, a smile dancing around the edges of her lips, the look of someone who had seen this all before firmly in place on her face. “We get people in like her all the time, you just gotta smile at them, and get them back out the door as quickly as you can. It’s her money we want, and as long as you get that I don’t care if she doesn’t come back. We’ve got enough lovely regulars here to make the job worthwhile.”

Sasha opened and closed her mouth in shock as few times as Shea spoke. She’d never really heard of a boss being this lenient before, and Shea’s attitude towards the rude customers, whilst refreshing and good for Sasha, was completely unexpected.

“So- you’re not going to fire me?” was all she managed to say, confusion flooding her body as Shea’s only response was to laugh. And what a laugh she had. Sasha knew the beautiful, booming sound would be ingrained into her brain forever, and she wasn’t mad at that state of affairs.

“Oh god no. Of course not. She was a bitch, and your first customer. I think you handled her pretty well,” Shea explained, flashing a heartwarming smile in Sasha’s direction. The butterflies in Sasha’s stomach fluttered, and she managed a flustered smile in return.

“Thank you,” Sasha said softly, putting as much feeling into the two little words as she could. Shea standing up for her like that meant more than she’d actually be able to tell her, and the relief at being able to keep her job was immense.

“Would you like me to run through the register with you again? I shouldn’t have left, that was my fault. But we don’t usually start getting many customers yet- no, I’ve got no excuse. It’s okay, I’ll stay with you until you’ve got the hang of it.”

True to her word, Shea stayed glued to Sasha’s side for the next couple of hours, encouraging the Russian every time a new customer came in, praising her customer service voice, and nudging her towards the right buttons every time the confused look flitted across Sasha’s head. As the minutes ticked by and more and more customers came through the shop, Sasha began to gather confidence in her growing skills, and even started cracking the odd joke here and there, much to Shea’s delight.

“I think you’ve got it,” Shea finally proclaimed after the lunchtime rush had died down, and the pair could breathe again. It had been pretty solid for the last hour, and Sasha’s brain felt thoroughly fried from the amount of concentration and energy it had taken to deal with the customers and get her head fully wrapped around how the register worked.

“Turns out it’s not that hard when you pay attention,” Sasha laughed, thankful that the busy rush had kept her mind on her work, and off of the fact that Shea had been stood next to her for the whole time.

“We don’t make it difficult for you,” Shea agreed, handing over a dollar or so of change to the last customer in line. “Take half hour for your lunch break and gather your thoughts again, we’ll switch you and Katya afterwards,” Shea added, placing a hand on Sasha’s shoulder and smiling at her.

Shea’s touch felt like it was burning through the thin cotton fabric of Sasha’s shirt, and Sasha’s entire body was focused on that one spot.

“I- uh…thank you,” she managed to sputter out, before darting away to grab a sandwich from the display for her lunch, cursing herself for letting every little thing Shea did fluster her to the point of incompetency.

On her way to the back room where there was a table for the baristas to sit and eat lunch at, Sasha bumped into Katya who was headed in the same direction.

“Sasha!” Katya immediately linked arms with her friend and started talking at a hundred miles an hour about everything she’d been doing that morning. Alaska had been showing her the ropes when it came to cleaning the cafe and keeping the kitchen looking sparkling clean, as well as teaching Katya how to prepare the simple salads and sandwiches on the menu.

Sasha tuned out as Katya rambled on, pulling out a chair at the table so she could down. Katya sat down beside her, looking at Sasha expectantly.

“Uh- that sounds great?”

Katya’s face fell.

“You haven’t been paying attention to a word I’ve said, have you?” Katya asked, although it was more like a statement than a question. Sasha flushed a delicate pink, and shook her head.

“No,” she admitted with a smile, Katya responding with an eye roll and a shake of her head.

“Shea has really gotten to you, huh.”

“Keep your voice down!” Sasha hushed her friend quickly, glancing around to make sure Shea hadn’t suddenly popped up out of nowhere. “But yes- she’s constantly on my mind and it’s really hard to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing-” Sasha broke off as Katya started laughing, and hit her on the arm with her sandwich.

“Hey! I worked hard on that. Poor little guy,” Katya protested, rescuing the sandwich from Sasha’s grasp and laying it back down on the table. “It’s cute, watching you get all flustered. You’re usually so poised and perfect.”

It was Sasha’s turn to eye roll in Katya’s direction.

“Don’t be an idiot. Like you’ve been any better, holed up in that kitchen with Alaska all morning.”

Katya’s eyes glazed over as Sasha spoke, and it was all Sasha could do not to burst out laughing.

“I didn’t know that I had a vegetable chopping kink, but I totally have a vegetable chopping kink. Alaska’s biceps when she’s cutting cucumber was- I nearly had to excuse myself and go to the bathroom,” Katya told her in a dreamy voice.

“That’s- that’s disgusting. Not a visual I wanted. Do you actually remember anything she said?” Sasha asked, picking up her sandwich to take a bite out of the end.

“I actually do! She’s a really good teacher, very thorough. I like a girl that’s thorough, I think there’s a lot I could teach her,” Katya said, laughing at the horrified look on Sasha’s face.

“You- you seriously need to get laid.”

“That’s why we’re here!” Katya exclaimed, popping the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and chewing in a weirdly thoughtful manner. “If today was anything to judge by, I reckon I’ll have her in my bed by the end of the week.”

“Just please warn me, so I can not be in the house,” Sasha pleaded, a vivid image of herself walking in on a naked Katya and Alaska rising unbidden in her mind and making her shudder.

“Scout’s honour,” Katya replied, earning herself another eye roll from Sasha. Since coming to the States, Katya had made it her mission to learn as many of the slang phrases as possible, and shoe horn them into conversation whenever she could, much to the annoyance of Sasha and her own amusement.

“I don’t know how Alaska hasn’t throttled you this morning,” Sasha muttered, nearly jumping out of her skin when someone with serious vocal fry responded from behind her.

“I tried to, but I think she’s already dead,” Alaska said as she walked further into the room, and placed a hand on a flailing Katya’s shoulder. “Shea told me to come and tell you that you’ll be in the kitchen with me this afternoon Sasha, and Katya will be out learning how to work the register with Shea. I’ll see you in fifteen.”

As quickly as she had entered, Alaska departed from the room again, leaving a hungry Katya staring after her. Sasha couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment rush through her at Alaska’s words, having hoped that she’d get to spend the afternoon with Shea too. She knew Alaska was lovely, and was actually looking forward to getting to know her better and make some friends who weren’t Katya, but she was weirdly desperate to spend as much time with Shea as she could. Sasha supposed that at the very least, her poor, frazzled brain would get a break and actually be able to focus on the work at hand.

“Earth to Ms Velour, come in.”

Katya’s abrasive tones broke through her thoughts once more, and she focused back in to see the biggest shit eating grin in place on Katya’s face.

“You’ve got it bad,” she laughed in delight, Sasha swatting her on the arm.

“You’re an idiot. I’m going to find Alaska before they wonder where we’ve gotten to. I’d quite like to keep this job now we’ve got it,” Sasha replied, rising from her chair and smoothing down her skirt again, before heading out of the tiny break room.

“You just want to suck Shea’s dick,” was all Katya said in response as she trailed behind Sasha, still grinning.

“Shea doesn’t have a dick you complete lunatic. Now- just play nicely with her, alright? Try not to scare any of the customers away,” Sasha said, turning back to hug Katya, before they went their separate ways for the final few hours of work.

**************************

Time really did fly by when you were kept busy, and before either of them knew it, the work day had come to an end, and Shea was flipping the ‘open’ sign to closed, before turning back around to grin at the newest employees of the coffee shop.

“Excellent work ladies,” she said as all four of them, plus Trixie, continued to tidy up the shop, showing Sasha and Katya how to clean the various machines and bit and bobs lying around.

“If it can be moved, it goes in the dishwasher,” Trixie muttered in an aside to Katya as Shea came back behind the counter and stood facing them all again.

“Tomorrow I think we’ll have Sasha back on the register with me to refresh your memory, and Trixie, you can teach Katya the basics of making good coffee. You’ll both be pros at the end of the week,” Shea continued, laying out the training plan for the pair of them. “Now go home and get some rest, you’ll soon be making coffee in your sleep, but until then I know how tiring it is.”

Sasha and Katya immediately obeyed Shea, both of them slipping off their aprons and piling them into Sasha’s backpack, before saying their goodbyes to their new colleagues. To her immense surprise, and complete loss of every function, Shea slipped her arms around Sasha to hug the Russian tightly, whispering praise in her ear.

Katya was about to laugh at the shocked expression on Shea’s face, when Alaska tapped her on the shoulder, and she spun around to face the older girl, whatever words she had on her lips immediately dying away.

“It was wonderful to get to know you today,” Alaska told her, her deep voice shooting straight through Katya and making her shiver. The vocal fry at the end of her words was affecting her more than she wanted to let on, and she had a weird urge to cross her legs.

“I hope to get to know you a lot better,” Katya responded when she’d found her voice again, smiling up at the other girl. Alaska smiled back, and lifted a hand to wave her fingers at Katya.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” was all she said in response, before turning back to the cleaning job she had at hand.

Katya grabbed Sasha, and drifted back through the cafe towards the exit, replaying every encounter she’d had with Alaska back over in her mind, hoping that she’d managed to strike the right balance between professional and flirty. She wanted Alaska to know that she wanted to get in Alaska’s pants, but she also didn’t want to come across as so unprofessional that Shea worked out what was going on. Besides, although she had more than an inkling that she was, she didn’t even know if Alaska was into girls.

Katya sighed softly as they mounted the stairs back up to their apartment, Sasha echoing the sentiment. This was going to be harder than Katya had anticipated, and all she could think about right now was falling into bed and sleeping for as long as she could. Shea had been right. The day had been exhausting, in more than one way.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which sasha and katya turn up for their second day of work (or ass staring, as it seems to be), but as ever, the course of true love never did run smooth.

Both Sasha and Katya had done nothing the night before but shovel leftover Chinese food into their mouths, and fall into bed. Neither had really considered just how exhausting actually working in the coffee shop would be, especially when the only thing on Katya’s mind had been getting into Alaska’s pants, and Sasha had just agreed to it to shut Katya up. But it turned out that working in that environment was not only physically exhausting with being on your feet all day, but the amount of information required to absorb and remember was mentally draining.

Katya’s eyes flew open when her alarm sounded the next morning, and she swore loudly as the morning sunshine streaming into the room assaulted her eyes.

“Morning Kat.” Sasha’s husky voice filtered in from the room next door, and Katya merely groaned in reply, feeling like she’d not slept at all.

“Do we have to go into work today? I think one day was enough,” she muttered just loud enough for Sasha to hear, the other Russian laughing loudly in reply.

“C’mon Katya, it wasn’t that bad yesterday. Shea, Alaska, and Trixie were so lovely to us. I think we’ll enjoy this job, once we know what we’re doing.”

“If Shea keeps teaching you, you’re never going to know what you’re doing,” Katya replied, throwing the thick duvet off of her body and rolling out of bed and into a stretch, trying desperately to wake her mind and body up.

“Fuck off,” was all Sasha had to say as she wrapped a dressing gown around her body and padded into their tiny kitchenette to grab some breakfast.

Sasha flicked on the radio that was sat on the windowsill, and opened up the window a crack to let some of the fresh (well, as fresh as it got in New York) air into the apartment, before pulling out a packet of bagels from the breadbin sat in the corner. Humming along to the song playing, Sasha cut open the bagels and toasted them for a few minutes, gathering everything else she wanted whilst she waited. When they were done, she spread them with a generous helping of cream cheese, piled the bagels onto a plate, added some fresh berries, and took everything into Katya’s room so the two friends could eat together.

“I really hope you’re not naked,” Sasha called as she nudged open Katya’s door with her hip, the laughter coming from inside not filling her with much confidence.

“Not fully naked,” was the reply she got, and she was indeed greeted by a not fully naked Katya, who was wearing a pair of panties, but not a lot else.

“You could at least have put a bra on before you started doing yoga,” Sasha sighed as she climbed onto Katya’s bed and placed the plate down, before gingerly taking a bagel half, trying not to get cream cheese all over her fingers.

“They’re just boobs,” Katya told her, kicking out of the bridge pose and joining Sasha on the bed.

“I think I could draw them from memory at this point,” Sasha said, taking a bite of her breakfast and rolling her eyes at Katya.

Katya’s eyes lit up.

“Could you?” she asked eagerly, shoving half of her bagel into her mouth in one go.

“No!”

“Why not? It would be an interesting study on- something. You can make that part up. I’ve always wanted to be a nude model,” Katya managed to say after she’d swallowed her mouthful of bread with great difficulty.

“I’ve got too many other projects on the go. Maybe some other time,” Sasha said after a slight pause, laughing as Katya’s face filled with a triumphant glee.

“Good. And then I can give the picture to Alaska so she always has something to remember me by.”

“My god you actually have a one track mind,” laughed Sasha, popping the last bite of her breakfast into her mouth and brushing the crumbs off of her hands, much to Katya’s dismay as she watched the tiny bits of bread fall onto her sheets.

“I can’t bring Alaska back here with crumbs in the bed, I’m not about to rail her with her thinking I’m some kind of slob,” Katya whined, brushing the crumbs off onto the floor as best she could.

“You haven’t changed those sheets since we got here, I really hope you would put fresh bedding on before that happens,” Sasha replied, climbing back off of the bed and heading into her own room to get dressed for the day. “Don’t forget, we’ve got ten minutes before we need to leave.”

Fifteen minutes later found Sasha anxiously waiting by the front door for Katya to finish getting ready, getting more and more wound up by the minute. It was only their second day of work, and all Sasha could think about was what a shit impression they’d make on their bosses/love interests if they turned up late, leaving the three other girls to deal with the morning rush.

“Katya, with every second that passes your chances of seeing Alaska naked get ever smaller,” Sasha called into the silent apartment, knowing that that was possibly the only thing that would get the other Russian to hurry up. Katya was always singular in her obsessions, whether they be actual hobbies or people, and it was something Sasha had learnt to use to her advantage over the years.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Katya stumbled out of her bedroom, tripping over the undone lace of her shoes, hair still looking like birds had decided to nest in it during the night.

“Everyone is actually going to think you’re homeless,” Sasha sighed, handing Katya her backpack and opening the front door. “Right, let’s hope they don’t fire us today.”

*********************************************

Much to Sasha’s relief, the pair were warmly welcomed back into the shop when they arrived bang on time, Shea’s face splitting into a smile that Sasha swore would be able to end wars and heal the sick. Sasha managed to smile back, feeling Katya’s mirth from beside her as the woman told the pair what they’d be learning during their training that day. Sasha was back with Shea on the register, and she could only hope that some small part of her had actually retained what Shea had shown her the day before. There was another, smaller, squashed deep down part of her that wanted to be useless at it so Shea spent more time with her teaching her again. But she wasn’t going to admit to that, not in a million years.

Katya, much to her dismay, was on the bar learning the basics of making coffee with the girl they’d met the day before, Trixie. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Trixie was nice, she’d seemed really sweet, but she did consider it overly unfair that Sasha got to spend the day with Shea again when she herself could only catch glimpses of Alaska when the tall girl bussed the cafe, before hiding away in the kitchen again.

“So I think we’ll start with the basics of steaming milk,” Trixie was saying as she gathered several milk jugs and placed them on the stainless steel counter in front of Katya. Katya hummed in response, her eyes darting around the cafe in a fruitless attempt to make eye contact with Alaska. The Russian prided herself on her ability to flirt without a word, but she hadn’t quite yet mastered the ability of flirting when she couldn’t even see the object of her affections.

“Sure, sure,” Katya said vaguely, not paying any attention to what the heavily made up blonde was doing.

Trixie poured milk into the jug, explaining what she was doing to Kayta at the same time. “-and then, when you’ve got the right amount of milk for the drink, you start steaming it. I’ll show you latte milk first- do you know the difference between a cappuccino and a latte?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, course I do,” responded the Russian as she tore her eyes away from the cafe, and tried her hardest to focus on the task at hand. It wasn’t Trixie’s fault, she seemed nice enough, and if Katya hadn’t applied for the job for one reason, and one reason only, she could actually see herself becoming friends with the pretty girl. But as things stood, Trixie was just another object in the way of her path forwards.

“Go on then,” Trixie challenged, a small smile playing around the edges of her painted pink lips. Contrary to how everyone saw her, she was actually a perceptive person, and she’d seen how distracted Katya had been since the other girl had entered the cafe, and it didn’t take much to put two and two together. Especially when she’d seen up close and personal the light that had appeared in Katya’s eyes every time Alaska popped out of the back kitchen.

Katya paused, staring down into the white liquid in the jug in front of her. Panic rose unbidden in her chest as she realised she hadn’t actually heard the question. Trixie bit back a laugh as she watched the other girl hesitate and struggle.

“I- uh-” Katya stuttered, casting around frantically in her mind for something to say that wouldn’t make her look like a complete idiot. Unfortunately, no such luck. She could already see the mirth in Trixie’s light blue eyes, and she could feel her cheeks heating up beneath the thick layer of foundation she had on her face. “Could you repeat the question? Like any good pageant girl, I only answer to the second time,” she eventually settled on, Toddlers and Tiaras having become one of her favourite programmes to hate watch over the past couple of weeks.

Trixie rolled her eyes in response, and instructed Katya to watch her closely as she quickly explained the difference between latte milk and cappuccino milk, and demonstrated how to achieve that difference. Katya tried her best to concentrate on what Trixie was saying, but her mind was running in a thousand different directions. This was going to be a long couple of hours, she could feel it in her bones. And her bones had never yet lied to her.

*************************************

“I think you’ve got it!” Trixie eventually beamed as Katya poured the velvety milk into a paper cup, lidded it, and handed it off at the end of the bar. Truth be told, she hadn’t actually thought that they’d even manage to get as far as learning how to tamp espresso, but on the rare occasion she was paying attention, Katya actually turned out to be a quick learner, much to Trixie’s relief.

Katya smiled back triumphantly, a weird sense of pride filling her as she got started on the next drink. The cafe was getting steadily busier, but Trixie hadn’t rushed her through the drinks, instead encouraging Katya to take her time and make a decent cup of coffee, and Katya couldn’t thank her enough.

“I’m surprised you haven’t strangled her yet,” Sasha called over from where she was still working the register, but alone by now. Katya surreptitiously flipped off her friend in return, the Russian cackling as she did so.

“I’m a hard enthusiastic worker,” Katya countered, finishing another drink and handing it off. “I always knew I was destined for great things. Who knew my calling would come at the bottom of a coffee cup?”

Trixie laughed, folding her arms over her chest. “I wouldn’t go that far yet. A quick learner, but we haven’t seen if you can handle the pace of a busy rush. Besides, are you here for the coffee, or here for another reason?” She asked, a teasing note to her voice that Katya couldn’t place.

“I- I’m here for the job,” Katya lied, staring suspiciously at Trixie, who gazed back with unblinking eyes. “We moved here, and we both needed jobs.”

“I guess the pretty lady you’ve been staring at for the past hour is just a bonus then, right?’ Trixie went straight to the point, not bothering to drop anymore hints. Katya flushed a bright red, her eyes opening wide as she realised she hadn’t been as subtle as she’d hoped she had been.

“I- uh- what?” she eventually sputtered out, not enjoying the amused, knowing look on Trixie’s face.

“You might want to try looking at the actual coffee cup sometime, rather than the floating ass you seem to be fixated on,” Trixie continued, a smile dancing around the edges of her lips. She could see Katya squirming, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying this.

Katya wouldn’t be the first person to come into the shop, and keep coming back because of Alaska’s hauntingly otherworld beauty, but she would be the first to get an actual job in the shop because of Alaska. Trixie had to admire the dedication- even if there was a weird pang in her heart if she thought of the beautiful Russian in front of her being with her boss. But she didn’t want to think too hard into that. That was how you got your heart broken, and Trixie had had her heart broken enough times by now to know she never wanted to put herself in that position of vulnerability again. Yet again- Trixie bit her lip, the smile fading. Katya cocked her head, seeing the amused light fade from Trixie’s eye.

“What is it?” she asked, grabbing the cup Sasha had put down on the counter and making the coffee for the customer stood at the end of the bar. Trixie hesitated, just watching what Katya was doing and correcting her technique, not entirely sure what to say or how much to say.

“It’s- Alaska,” she said eventually, lowering the tone of her voice even though neither Shea nor Alaska were anywhere near the three girls serving the customers. Katya’s brow furrowed at the urgent, confidential tone of Trixie’s voice, completely confused as to what the blonde might say.

“What about Alaska?” asked the impatient Russian, a vague sense of impending doom flooding her body and sending her stomach off in somersaults.

“She’s- listen, I love her. Alaska and Shea are the best bosses anyone could ask to work for, and I’ve been working here for two years now. But- there’s history with Alaska. Recent history. And trust me, you do not want to get mixed up in it,” Trixie eventually said, keeping it vague enough that Katya wouldn’t be able to implicate her if it ever did get back to Alaska, but at the same time hoping that the warning would sink in, and Katya would keep her distance.

Trixie would be lying again if she didn’t admit that the thought of Katya staying far away from Alaska didn’t fill her with a weird sense of glee. But- no. That was another thought, another conversation for another day.

“Are you serious?” Katya asked, her stomach feeling like it had fallen out of her ass as Trixie nodded, her expression sombre enough that even though Katya barely knew the blonde, she knew she wasn’t lying. Katya’s eyes widened as the words sunk in, her mind working at a million miles an hour as she wondered just what the messy history with Alaska was.

Whatever it was, for Trixie to have taken the time to warn her, it couldn’t be pretty. Katya glanced over at Sasha, the two sharing a look that spoke volumes. Had they made a mistake?


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which our girls go out for after work drinks, learn a little more, and someone is left plotting

The week flew by quickly, leaving Sasha and Katya breathless in its wake. Each day was much the same: wake up, eat breakfast, work in the shop, come home, order takeaway, fall into bed. Rinse and repeat for five consecutive days. Katya had been surprised at just how quickly the pair of them managed to fall into this new routine, to the point where they were now at the end of their last day working before they had two days off, and it felt like they had always been working in the coffee shop across the road from their apartment. They’d both flown through their barista training to the praise of Shea and Alaska, and the amusement of Trixie, who’s shrewd eyes had been taking in every interaction between the four of them. But Sasha and Katya were both sure that Shea and Alaska had no idea what their true intentions were, and couldn’t yet decide whether that was a good thing or not.

“We’re going out for a drink after work if you and Sasha want to come along,” a voice interrupted Katya’s thoughts as she cleaned down the panini grills, and Katya turned her head to see Manila, the other shop employee who they’d met earlier in the week, smiling at her with a cloth in one hand and a bottle of cleaning fluid in the other.

“Uh, sure,” Katya shrugged after she managed to gather her thoughts back together and give Manila a coherent answer. “I’m sure Sasha will be up for it,” she added with a smile, Manila clapping her hands together in delight and heading into the cafe to finish wiping down the tables.

“Great! We just need to get this done as quickly as we can, and we’ll go.”

Katya nodded, and turned her attention back to the nearly spotless grill. She was looking forward to getting to know her work colleagues better, and make friends in this still new city, but she did wish that it had been any other night. That day had been Shea and Alaska’s day off before they came back in for the busy weekend, and Katya would be lying if she said the day hadn’t felt infinitely longer without Alaska to distract her thoughts.

“Kat, I can see my face in that already. Are you trying to scrub it out of existence?” Sasha’s deep tones sounded from over her shoulder now, and Katya quickly flipped her off, before wiping away the last of the liquid and shutting the grill.

“Manila has invited us out for drinks after work, are you in?” was all Katya said in response as she packed away the materials she’d been using and wiped her hands down on her apron. Sasha cocked her head to the side, curious look on her face as she studied Katya.

“Sure,” Sasha replied slowly, folding her arms over her chest. “It’ll be nice to spend some time with Trixie and Manila outside of this place,” she added, still looking directly at Katya, noting the fleeting change on Katya’s expression as she spoke.

“Yeah, it’ll be good,” Katya said slowly, eyes darting around the cafe to check that all her end of night cleaning jobs had been done.

“Alright, what are you in a mood about?” Sasha eventually said after a moment or two of silence, Katya looking towards her in surprise. Sasha wasn’t usually one for confrontation, and so Katya knew that when she employed that tone of voice, and paired it with that look in her eye, Katya was in for trouble.

“What do you mean?”

“You look like someone just told you your dog died, rather than asking you to go for after work drinks. Explain.” Sasha switched to Russian and kept her voice low, knowing that Trixie and Manila were both absorbed in their cleaning tasks, but not wanting to run the risk of either of them overhearing.

Katya shrugged, a weird look on her face. “Nothing Sasha,” she replied, also in Russian. “I just- it would be fun if Alaska and Shea were coming too. Trixie and Manila are nice, but-”

“-But you don’t want to fuck them,” Sasha finished, amusement dawning on her face as she realised why Katya was in such a weird mood. She loved Katya, but the Russian really did have a one track mind, and was awful at doing anything that didn’t contribute towards her end goal.

Katya spread her hands open in front of her and shrugged in a gesture of ‘so what’. Sasha laughed, mirth dancing in her eyes as she turned her attention back to breaking down and cleaning the espresso machines.

“You need a hobby,” was all Sasha said, ignoring Katya’s speechless reaction behind her and continuing to speak in Russian. “I know you want to fuck Alaska, but you seriously need to start thinking about other things too. We’re making a life for ourselves here Yekaterina, we didn’t just come over to find two beautiful ladies and sleep with them. Manila and Trixie are both lovely, and it will be nice to get to know them and make some friends in this godforsaken city.”

Katya looked suitably embarrassed at Sasha’s speech, and she nodded slowly as she grabbed a spare cloth and started wiping down the counters, leaving behind gleaming steel.

“I know,” Katya eventually conceded. “You’re right. Alaska is just a bonus really, this cafe is giving us a life we didn’t have in Russia.”

Sasha nodded, rolling her eyes at her best friend, and she was about to start speaking again when they were interrupted by the musical voice of Trixie, who had wandered over to the pair with her apron draped over her arm.

“Hey, if you’re both ready we’re going to head out,” she informed them with a smile, the pair immediately both throwing down their cleaning cloths and pulling off their aprons. Katya forced a smile onto her face, Sasha’s words reverberating around her head.

The Russian was right, and Katya needed to get out of her Alaska-centric head. It wasn’t going to do either of them any favours, and if it turned out that Alaska didn’t want to sleep with her - although Katya had no doubts about her own sexual prowess - at the very least herself and Sasha would have made a good group of friends to ease the new city anxiety, something they’d both struggled with since moving.

******************************

Fifteen minutes later found the group crowding into a cocktail bar not far from the cafe, a place that Trixie had raved about and promised that the cocktails would be beyond anything Sasha and Katya had experienced so far, Manila nodding in agreement. The two Russians had just nodded, quite happy to go along with anything with their still limited knowledge of the city they lived in.

Katya gazed around the interior of the bar, excitedly tapping Trixie on the shoulder repeatedly as she babbled about how cool it was already, and they hadn’t even ordered cocktails yet! Trixie just look over at Sasha in response, raising one brow in response to the excited blonde.

“Is she always like this?” Trixie asked as she stepped up to the counter, passing around the drinks menus so the small group could decide what they wanted. Sasha let out a deep laugh as she opened up the laminated cardboard menu, her eyes flickering over all the drinks on offer.

“Usually she’s worse,” Sasha replied, shrugging slightly. “I’ve spent years looking after her, I relinquish the baton to you tonight.”

“I don’t need looking after,” Katyta interjected, looking offended. “I’m a real woman Barbara, I’m capable.”

“Real and woman are two words I would not use in the same sentence about you,” Sasha said, biting on her lip as she tried to decide what she wanted, each new cocktail she read sounding more delicious than the last.

“That’s because you’re a whore,” Katya fired back, Manila and Trixie watching the exchange between the pair with an amused air.

“I’m the whore?!” Sasha asked in disbelief, looking to Manila and Trixie for back up. They both laughed, and held their hands up in surrender as Katya began to explain herself.

“You-” was all she managed to get out before Sasha interrupted, half joking and half not wanting her co-workers to think she actually was a whore before they all got to know each other.

“I didn’t pick my job just because I wanted to sleep with the boss,” Sasha hissed, before clapping her hands over her mouth as she realised what she’d admitted to, her eyes widening with fear. Katya immediately burst into wheezing laughter at the expression on Sasha’s face, waving in Manila and Trixie’s direction.

“Trixie already knew,” Katya told her friend, putting her out of her mystery. Trixie nodded in agreement, pausing the conversation to order the group their drinks, before resuming.

“It didn’t take much, although Alaska is still completely oblivious,” Trixie told them, Manila frowning from beside her.

“Wait- Katya applied for the job just because she wanted to sleep with Alaska?” Manila asked, trying to piece together the story in her head, feeling completely out of the loop. Three nodding heads signalled she was right, and Manila’s eyes opened wide as she glanced over at Trixie, who shook her head minutely in response.

Manila whistled, and folded her arms over her chest.

“You have to keep quiet though, Alaska has no idea,” Katya told her, not wanting the cat to be let out of the bag before she could let Alaska know in her own time. Katya had a plan of attack, and it hadn’t failed her yet. But it did rely on everyone else keeping their mouths shut and their secrets to themselves.

“That’s- uh, cool. Alaska sure is beautiful, and she’s a really lovely person. But…do you know about-” Manila broke off at a wide eyed shake of the head from Trixie, leaving Sasha and Katya confused as they grabbed their drinks and headed to a booth in the corner to settle in for a couple of hours.

“Is this about the - stuff - you were saying about?” Katya asked as she slid into her seat in the corner, sipping her cocktail through the fancy gold straw placed into it. Trixie gnawed at her lip, bright pink lipstick coming off on her teeth as she deliberated about what to say.

She’d known that eventually she’d have to tell Katya about Alaska’s background, for Katya’s sanity more than anything else. Sasha and Katya had no idea that the real reason that the three girls who had had their jobs previously hadn’t left because of the job, but instead because of Alaska’s erratic behaviour over the past few months. Not that she wanted to tell them that - things had only gotten better over the past week with Sasha and Katya on board with herself and Manila, and she wasn’t about to upset that balance, not when Alaska’s mental health seemed to have steadied again. But - she needed to let Katya know what she was getting herself into, before it was too late.

“Yeah,” Trixie replied hastily when she realised everyone else around the table had been looking at her in silence, waiting for her to either confirm or deny Katya’s question. She shared a quick look with Manila, the two old friends communicating without words how much Sasha and Katya needed to know, and how much was old history that didn’t matter anymore.

“We just want to protect you,” Manila interjected, seeing Katya and Sasha’s faces fall, and the confused look they shared.

“Alaska is a wonderful person, despite the incapable exterior. Really clever, really shrewd, really knows what she’s doing when it comes to that shop,” Trixie started, speaking slowly and finding each word before she spoke it, knowing she needed to get enough information across without revealing absolutely everything. Manila nodded in agreement.

“Shea and Alaska have made that cafe what it is now, and it’s because of them it’s so popular. They’re both incredibly clever business women,” Manila added, the pride in her voice letting Katya and Sasha know she wasn’t just saying that to sweeten them up before the but. And Katya could sense a big but coming. Not unlike Alaska herself.

“Is this going to be a shit sandwich?” Katya burst out before she could stop herself, the stupid joke lightening the atmosphere and causing all four girls to crack up with laughter, Trixie nodding and Manila clapping.

“Yeah, it will be a little bit of a shit sandwich,” she agreed, her eyes dancing with a light that showed she didn’t much mind. Katya nodded slowly.

“Well, as long as I know where I stand. This isn’t just you not wanting me to sleep with the boss, right?”

Trixie shook her head.

“We don’t care who you sleep with,” Manila shrugged, “But this will affect all of us.”

“Shut up and let me tell her, you’re confusing them even more,” Trixie said, noting the looks on Sasha and Katya’s faces. “I told you there was history. Messy history. It’s nothing major but- Alaska isn’t very good at reacting to situations in a rational way, and there was a big to-do with her two exes and cheating and- it gets messy. I don’t want to say everything, it’s not my story to tell, but when it all blew up Alaska fell off the rails a little bit. From what we can gather she had a messy time when she was a teenager and it all just…it was bad. And that meant it was bad for all of us, not just Alaska. When that girl throws a tantrum-” Trixie broke off here and whistled.

“Obviously, if you still want to get into her pants, that’s your business. We’re not going to stop you, and we both really do love Alaska. She’s a talented woman,” Manila quickly added, seeing the dawning horror on Katya’s face, and the look in Sasha’s eyes that screamed that she wanted to get out. “Just- just be careful, that’s all.”

Manila shrugged, and quickly changed the subject onto the worst customers Sasha and Katya had encountered in their first week, Sasha immediately launching into the story of the time that she’d had to deal with a priest who came in accusing her of being worse than any criminals he’d dealt with in his thirty-three years in the prison service, leaving Manila and Trixie to empathise, and Katya to mull over the limited information Trixie had given her.

Obviously the Barbie blonde had been reluctant to really throw Alaska under the bus and spill her entire life story, but Katya would be lying if she said she wasn’t chomping at the bit to know what exactly had gone down between Alaska and her exes. More than one ex - it spelled disaster if ever Katya had seen it, and she’d had her fair brush with disaster. But she really just wanted, or needed, to know what level of crazy she was dealing with (Katya herself was no stranger to crazy), and then she’d be able to decide whether or not to bother with Alaska, or whether to move onto the next victim. There were, as ever, plenty more fish in the sea, and Katya had already spotted some beautiful ones. Nothing compared to Alaska’s ethereal beauty that haunted Katya in her sleep, but Trixie was cute, in a plastic sort of way, and there was a regular customer who came in nearly every day with tumbling black curls, the smallest waist Katya had ever seen, and a knowing grin on her lips and a teasing question in her eyes. She was interesting, and if Alaska didn’t pan out- Katya liked interesting.

Now all she had to do was get close enough to Alaska to ascertain what she was dealing with. It was going to be a tough gig- but someone had to do it. And Katya had faith in her skills.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Katya cooks up her master plan (and some pasta)

Katya took full advantage of her break over the weekend to devise her master plan. Operation Thunderfuck she’d coined it, much to the amusement of Sasha, who spent the whole time wandering in and out of her room and snickering over something new that Katya had thought of, or laughing at the offended expression on Katya’s face. Sasha thought the whole thing was completely ridiculous, but she also knew there was no stopping Katya once she’d gotten her mind set on something. That was why they’d ended up in America in the first place, because Katya had spent entirely too much time secretly watching American TV programmes, and had subsequently decided that if herself and Sasha ever wanted a chance to live life on their terms, they had to move to the land of the free, and chase that American Dream.

Of course, it hadn’t quite happened like that, but when did life ever happen the way you imagined it?

“I think I’ve nailed it,” Katya exclaimed triumphantly as she emerged from her room on Sunday evening, eyes wild and hair resembling a bird’s nest piled on top of her head.

Sasha span around at the sound of her friend’s voice from where she’d been working on her latest art piece, and burst out laughing at the look of sheer pride on Katya’s face, and held her hand out for the piece of paper Katya was brandishing.

“Let’s take a look,” she said, mirth dancing in her tone as she took the paper and quickly scanned over the childlike scrawl detailing Katya’s ‘plan’ to get closer to Alaska and work out whether or not Trixie had been telling the truth, and whether or not trying to get into Alaska’s pants was worth her time. Sasha nodded slowly as she took in the words on the page, trying not to grin too widely, knowing Katya was deathly serious about this plan.

“I have to say, I’m quite impressed,” Sasha said eventually, handing Katya’s plan back to her and smiling. “You’ve been very thorough.”

Katya nodded, glancing over her plan once more. “Well, I think two weeks should do it. Any longer than that and I’ve wasted my time, especially when there are other people I could be getting to know.”

“By other people, I’m guessing you mean that dark haired girl who comes in all the time?”

“Yeah. She’s no Alaska, but she’s definitely flirted with me, and she looks like someone who would be good in bed,” Katya confirmed, Sasha biting back a grin. Katya was a fickle creature, and whilst she knew the Russian really wanted to sleep with Alaska, she also knew if it didn’t pan out the way Katya wanted it to, it wouldn’t take much for her to forget the bow-legged blonde.

Unlike Sasha. If things didn’t work out with Shea the way Sasha was secretly hoping and dreaming and wishing, she wasn’t entirely sure what she would do. Sasha and Katya had obsessive personalities, but in completely different ways, and Sasha knew she’d never be able to put Shea and her gorgeous curves and warming laugh out of her mind, the way Katya would be able to without a second thought after she moved on to the next girl.

“Kat, you think the fire hydrants are flirting with you,” Sasha shook her head, ignoring the incredulous gasp from her friend as Katya scrambled to defend herself. “All I’m saying is, she’s gorgeous but she might not be into you.”

“Everyone is into me,” Katya declared, folding up her plan and sticking it in her back pocket as she padded into the tiny kitchenette. “I’m irresistable for starters, and essentially I was a public service back in Russia. It’s not my fault you’re jealous of that.”

“Oh, I’m sure the Craigslist community is truly suffering since you’ve left,” Sasha replied, turning back to her canvas and picking up her paintbrush.

Katya flipped her hair before she turned her attention to the cupboards, scanning the nearly bare insides and frowning as she tried to work out how to throw the mismatched ingredients together into something that vaguely resembled a normal dinner.

“I am a giver,” Katya agreed, a smile dancing around her lips as she found an unopened packet of pasta in the back of the fridge, frowning as she pulled it out. “I need to stop coming in here in the middle of the night,” she continued, adding the packet to the pile she was gathering on the countertop.

“You need to stop cooking full stop,” Sasha countered, trying not to think about the previous times Katya had taken it upon herself to cook dinner for the pair, telling Sasha she should sit down and relax. Katya was a woman of many talents but cooking? That was not one of them. It wasn’t even close.

“Have a little faith,” Katya said, taking a saucepan, filling it with water, and putting it on the stove top to boil. “Even I can’t fuck up pasta.”

“If you say so,” Sasha replied, tuning out her friend as she concentrated on the painting in front of her, trying to bring the vision in her head to life on the canvas. As much as she was weirdly enjoying their new lives as employees of the coffee shop, there was no way Sasha was leaving her dreams of becoming an artist in the dust, even if it meant she’d not had much time to herself over the past week, and couldn’t see the next time she would.

Half an hour later Katya ladled a suspicious looking pasta concoction into two bowls, sprinkled grated cheese on top, stuck two forks in, and took them over to Sasha with a grin on her face.

“I really think this one is going to be good, I didn’t put much in it like I usually do,” she said, handing Sasha her bowl, and sitting down on cross legged on the armchair near Sasha to tuck into her own dinner. Sasha sniffed at the bowl suspiciously, her disapproving look fading as the delicious garlic and tomato smell wafted into her nostrils.

“Maybe it’s a good thing we haven’t managed to go shopping all week, means you have to be slightly tamer,” Sasha laughed, spearing some of the spirals onto her fork, and nodding as she chewed. “I’m- wow. Katya, you’ve actually done a good job.”

“I told you to have a little faith,” Katya said in triumph, placing a mouthful of her own pasta into her mouth. “It’s nothing like you can cook, but I’m getting there!”

The two friends ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes, the quiet between them only interrupted by the sound of chewing. It had been a long week for the pair of them, and they knew the week ahead was only going to get longer as they got given more and more responsibilities in the shop, and were left on their own more to deal with the issues that arose day to day. Katya couldn’t say she wasn’t excited though, the prospect of her new plan buoying her spirits. Sasha was equally as excited to get back to work. Shea had texted her the day before, continuing on a conversation they’d been having earlier in the week, and the Russian was looking forward to seeing Shea in person again and getting to pick her brain, the other woman offering a different sort of conversation to the one she usually had to endure with Katya.

“So, was me making us get a job in the shop a good idea or what?” Katya eventually broke the silence, grinning at Sasha as the Russian rolled her eyes in Katya’s direction.

“Don’t get used to this, but it actually was. Even though it’s been exhausting, it’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve gotten to know some really cool people,” Sasha enthused, her eyes lighting up as she thought over the past week. Katya bit back a smile, knowing exactly what Sasha meant by ‘cool people’.

“And some are cooler than others, I take it?” Katya asked, her tone gently teasing as she forked the last of her pasta into her mouth, and looked over at Sasha with bright eyes. Sasha flushed a delicate shade of pink, and shrugged slightly.

“Alright, so I was mostly talking about Shea. But she’s a really interesting person to talk to,” Sasha said, avoiding eye contact with Katya. “I mean, she’s beautiful too, but- there’s something about her. It’s captivating.”

Sasha seemed to drift off into another world as she spoke about Shea, and Katya smiled a little. She’d been watching the pair of them interact throughout the week, between making coffee and making flirty eyes at Alaska, and she’d had to keep her overwhelming happiness to herself. Sasha had had to keep so much of her true personality hidden in Russia, caring more about what other people thought than Katya did, and too scared to let herself shine, that Katya couldn’t be more happy her best, and oldest, friend was finally letting herself live the life she’d wanted. Even if they would always joke about America being Katya’s idea, and Sasha only coming over to make sure the blonde didn’t set herself on fire in the first hour, deep down Katya would always know that part of her reasoning was so that Sasha could stop being afraid. And she couldn’t be more pleased to see her plan working.

“She’s a smart cookie,” Katya agreed, watching as the far away expression in Sasha’s eyes faded, and she came back down to reality and nodded.

“She is,” Sasha said, placing her fork in her bowl and handing it over to Katya so the Russian could place them in the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen. “It’s refreshing. But we’re just friends, so don’t you even think about starting anything,” she finished, the conversation clearly over by the final note in her tone and the paintbrush in her hand.

Katya bit her lip, holding back the words she longed to say to Sasha, knowing that in time the Russian would let her guards down and let Katya into how she was truly feeling. Katya could only hope that she would let Shea into her feelings too, having seen the way Shea looked at Sasha when she thought Sasha wasn’t watching.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which katya has a day off, sasha and shea deal with the morning rush, and we meet someone who leaves more questions than she answers

Monday morning dawned, and Sasha woke up with the birds, their twittering streaming in the open window beside the weak, pale light. Sasha lay with her eyes shut for a few moments, willing the rest of her body to wake up so she could get out of bed and get ready for work, but she was just so cosy where she was, tucked up in the crisp white linen she favoured. But all good things must come to an end, and all too soon she was clambering out, shivering as her bare feet hit the cold wooden floor that never seemed to warm up no matter what the weather was outside.

Making as little noise as possible so she didn’t wake the slumbering Katya, who had the day off, Sasha quickly hopped in the shower, letting the warm water wash over her and soothe her racing thoughts. It was the first time the friends would be split up since they’d started working at the shop, and whilst she’d known it was coming, having Katya working in the same place as her had felt comforting, like a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and she’d known that no matter what happened there would always be someone there ready to take her side and help her no matter what. But she was an adult with an adult job, and she couldn’t rely on her childhood best friend for everything, not anymore. Her resolve set, it didn’t take long for Sasha to finish showering and dry off, wrapping a towel around her slender body as she finished her skin care routine in the mirror, brushed her teeth, and applied eyeliner and mascara to make herself look slightly more presentable

Satisfied with her appearance, Sasha quickly got dressed, grabbed a bagel for breakfast, scrawled a note for Katya for when she eventually rolled out of bed, and headed out the door, checking her notifications on her phone as she went. Sasha texted back her mom as she made her way down the stairs of their apartment block, reassuring the older Russian lady that yes, she was still alive, and yes, she had been eating and yes, Katya hadn’t been arrested yet (she wouldn’t tell her that she’d come close several times, but it totally wasn’t been Katya’s fault.)

Still smiling, Sasha pushed open the door to the cafe, the tinkling of the bell above signalling her arrival, and headed into the backroom to dump her bag and pull her apron on.

“You’ve woken up on the right side of the bed then.”

Shea’s dulcet tones knocked Sasha out of her thoughts, and she glanced up to see the smiling face of her boss, and prayed to anyone that was listening that Shea couldn’t see her cheeks turning rosier as she blushed.

“Uh, yeah,” was all Sasha could say in response as she desperately tried to gather her thoughts back together, the unexpectedly beautiful sight of Shea disarming her and throwing her off completely. Honestly, to have to look at a goddess like Shea before eight in the morning should be illegal. No-one was prepared to deal with that.

“It’s just you, me, and Manila today,” Shea continued, tying the strings of her apron in a bow behind her back, and tying her hair up in a bun to get it out of her face. “We’re usually pretty quiet on Monday’s, other than the rush in the morning, so it tends to be just three of us.”

Sasha nodded slowly as she pulled her own apron out of her bag, and slipped it over her head before wrapping the strings twice around her waist and tying them up at the back. She was trying not to let her nerves show on her face at the prospect of there only being three of them working the shift. Over the past week there was at least three others, not including Sasha and Katya, and there had always been the knowledge that if she completely cocked something up, she would always be able to call for backup. But apparently now she was really going to have to prove herself to Shea, if she ever wanted any chance at-

Sasha stopped that thought where it was, and tuned back into Shea, who was briefing her and Manila on how the shift was going to go.

“-so Sasha will be on register until this afternoon, I’ll be on the bar, and Manila, you’ll be in the kitchen” Shea finished, Manila nodding and smiling at Sasha as the dark haired girl made her way into the kitchen to prep for the day, before the shop officially opened. Sasha trailed after Shea, running through the list of opening tasks she’d have to perform.

“Pastry case, tea urn on, run it through-” Sasha mumbled as she walked, Shea biting back a smile as she listened in. Sasha had been one of the most diligent workers she’d ever hired, and she could see the determination in Sasha’s eyes to do a good job and get everything right.

Shea wished everyone could be like that, it had made her job training Sasha heck of alot easier over the past week, and meant that she trusted the Russian more than she trusted some of her older employees. And she also wasn’t going to read too deep into that trust. Sasha just had this- aura about her, that was all.

“Do you want a hand doing the pastry case?” Shea called over from where she was switching the espresso machines on and filling up the coffee beans, ready for the day ahead. Sasha glanced over at her, biting her lip.

“Sure,” she said slowly, suddenly nervous that Shea was only offering because she wasn’t doing a good enough job alone. Shea cocked her head to the side, sensing the anxiety in Sasha’s tone, but shrugged it off and walked over to where Sasha was stood.

“Where are you up to?” she asked, pulling on a pair of powdered vinyl gloves, and beginning to open up packets of the muffins to hand to Sasha to place on the top shelf.

“I think I only need a couple more of those,” Sasha said quickly, scrutinising the work she’d done already and calculating the amounts of each baked good she’d need to fill the case and make it look good, but without ending up with too much waste at the end of the night. “This is too much math,” she continued, scrunching up her nose.

Shea laughed, handing over a couple of muffins and tucking the rest away in the space underneath the pastry case. “Tell me about it,” she said with a mock sigh, casting an experienced eye over the work Sasha was doing and getting the next lot of pastries ready for her. “When we first opened this place, Alaska and I were so shit at maths we were throwing away so much more than we were buying, and running out of milk nearly every day. I mean, what sort of coffee shop runs out of milk?” Shea shook her head in disbelief as the memories of the very first week they’d opened came flooding back.

Sasha looked over at Shea, her confused expression morphing into one of curiosity.

“How long have you owned this place?” she asked, gesturing to the cafe as a whole as she realised that despite having worked there for a week now, she knew nothing about the history of the shop. Shea paused for a second as she counted back, the months and years morphing into each other.

“Let me think- we’re twenty-five now, Alaska’s nearly twenty-six, and we opened this place just after she turned twenty-two, so-” Shea counted quickly under her breath, her eyes widening as she got to the number. “Nearly four years now. God, that’s gone quickly, this place is ageing me prematurely, I swear.”

Sasha laughed, a deep, velvet sound that went straight through Shea and sent tingles down her spine, making her want to spend her life doing nothing more than making Sasha Velour laugh like that, in that specific way.

“That’s so young to open a shop- what made you both do it?” Sasha probed as the pair continued to work together to swiftly put the pastry case together, although Sasha’s mind had completely moved away from the work her hands were doing as she looked at Shea, wanting to know everything and anything about where the girl had come from.

Shea shrugged, placing several cardboard boxes into the fridge behind her.

“Alaska and I were in high school together,” she started, figuring she might as well give Sasha the full run down of the business, seeing as she was an employee there. Besides, Sasha just had this air about her that made you - specifically, Shea - want to spill every single little detail about her life, and she knew Sasha would look just as genuinely interested at the end as she did at the beginning.

“Alaska joined in junior year, and we ended up in theatre together, and just hit it off straight away. We always wanted to become actresses, and always laughed about working in a coffee shop together before we landed our first break on Broadway, but the more we talked about working in a coffee shop- the more we realised that it actually sounded like an amazing career that we both wanted. But we tried to pursue our acting dreams anyway, but never landed anything more than roles in the chorus. Then, just as we were about to give up, we noticed this place had gone up for sale, and we decided it was now or never,” Shea told Sasha the story, the Russian listening intently as Shea wove together the pieces of her history, omitting all the work the pair had had to go through and the shit they’d had to put up with from people who told them they were too young and it would never happen, and leaving in the basic details.

“Several trips back and forth to the bank later, we had the loan and we had the keys to the shop. Then it was just a matter of decorating, which was probably the best month of our lives up until that point. It was just- this place was ours, you know?”

Sasha nodded, the tale Shea was telling raising her opinion of both Shea and Alaska higher than she could have ever imagined. The pair had worked much harder than most people their age to create this business with, what it seemed like, very little experience.

“It’s beautiful in here,” Sasha told her as she placed the last cookie in the pastry case, and let the heavy glass doors swing shut. “You’ve done an amazing job with the place.”

Shea smiled in response, gazing out into the main area of the cafe, taking in the cosy space herself and Alaska had managed to create with old books and trinkets, cushions and mismatched furniture. “We redid the place about a year ago, when we had a bit more money to splurge. Honestly, we learnt everything we know on the job, and maybe it was a little reckless taking on such a big venture when we’d only waitressed before that, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been more successful than either of us ever imagined- and speaking of, it’s going to go swiftly downhill if I don’t open the doors in the next thirty seconds,” Shea laughed, handing over the last of the empty cardboard boxes to Sasha, and heading reluctantly out towards the door, so she could unlock it and let the first of the morning’s customers in.

Really, Shea wanted nothing more than to leave the doors locked and spend the day talking to Sasha, explaining more about how they’d dealt with learning how to run and manage a business, and asking more about Sasha’s childhood growing up in Russia, but they had the shift to contend with first. And besides, Shea could reassure herself with the knowledge that Sasha wasn’t going anywhere. They had all the time in the world to get to know each other. Shea couldn’t deny that that thought created a frisson of excitement bubbling in her chest.

**************************************************

The morning rush left Shea, Sasha, and Manila all gasping for breath, their minds spinning round and round from the sheer volume of customers pouring through the door, the bell above sounding every ten seconds it felt like. All Sasha had time for was a hurried I thought you said Monday’s were quiet as she rushed past Shea on bar with a hot tea in her hand, before she was distracted by a second customer asking where the restroom was.

But eventually the crazy morning died down, and the line that had previously been to the door died down, leaving Sasha a little more time to interact with each customer as they stepped up to her register, something she enjoyed, but had no time for when all she could do was ask what drink they wanted, take the money, and shoo them down the line to try and clear it as quickly as she could. It was manic, it was busy, but Sasha wouldn’t have changed anything for the world. She understood now why Alaska and Shea had lasted so long and built their company up from the ground - there was a weird buzz of adrenaline that came with the job, of knowing that you were helping someone with this small service that improved their day slightly, of getting through a long queue of people with only minor mishaps.

Shea looked over at Sasha triumphantly as church bells nearby signalled that it was eleven thirty in the morning, and they had an hour or so before the lunch time customers started appearing.

“You still breathing?” Shea asked as she banged the milk jug on the counter to burst any air bubbles on top, before expertly pouring the milk into the latter she was making. Sasha laughed, handing over the change to the last customer stood in front of her.

“Just about,” she replied, wiping the back of her hand across her sweaty brow. “I’m not sure where the time has gone, and I have no idea how many people we served, but I don’t think I angered any of them.”

Shea grinned, placing the lid on top of the to go cup and handing it off to the customer stood waiting. “You did an amazing job, honestly, considering it’s only your second week. We nailed that rush!”

Shea took a couple of steps towards Sasha and held her hand up for a high five. Sasha rolled her eyes, but complied, biting back a laugh as she did so.

“I can’t believe you’ve been doing this for four years and you haven’t collapsed from sheer exhaustion yet. I mean, I’ve only just done this rush and I could do with napping for the next week,” Sasha said, capping her pen and organising the area around her register in preparation for the next lot of customers. Shea laughed, mimicking what Sasha was doing in the area around the bar, cleaning down the surfaces and replacing the cloths she used to wipe down the steam wand.

“I promise, it doesn’t usually get this busy unless it’s a holiday, a weekend, or Christmas,” Shea replied, pushing wisps of hair out of her eyes. “It’s kind of fun though, right? There’s something about the feeling I get when we make it through a rush - I wouldn’t say it’s better than drugs, but it has to be similar.”

Sasha laughed, shrugging. “I wouldn’t know about the drugs thing, that was always Katya, but there is definitely a rush.”

Just then, the bell above the door tinkled, letting the pair know that a new customer had just entered, and they both turned to face the door with expectant smiles on their faces. Sasha was greeted by the sight of a tall girl entering the shop, her icy blonde hair curled around her shoulders, her face immaculately made up and what seemed like a permanent sneer placed upon it. She was dressed from head to toe in figure hugging black, the boots that came to her mid thigh looking like they were almost painted on her legs. She looked intimidating, that was the only way Sasha could think to describe her, a cold aura surrounding the girl that screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’.

“Sharon!” Shea greeted brightly from beside her, Sasha’s eyes flickering between the pair in surprise. Shea knew this girl?

“Shea!” The girl, Sharon, replied, her gravelly voice filled with a joy that was at complete odds with her appearance. She came up beside the bar, kissing Shea on each cheek, before she stood back and glanced around the cafe. “Alaska not in today?” She asked, her tone morphing into one of confusion.

Shea shook her head. “No, it’s her day off. I thought she would have told you?”

“I’ve been texting her all morning but she didn’t reply. I figured she was either still asleep, or working, and I wanted coffee. So I came to look for her here first, and I’ll go to her apartment after,” Sharon explained, a faint note of worry creeping into her voice. Shea and Sharon shared a look that confused Sasha, the Russian not understanding the dynamic between the pair, and not having the faintest idea of why the look was so loaded. But- it wasn’t her business to know, and she plastered a friendly grin on her face as Sharon turned to face her, perfectly painted lips greeting the Russian in a pleasant smile.

“You going to introduce us?” Sharon asked Shea, the other girl immediately scrambling to get them acquainted.

“Sharon, this is Sasha, a new hire of ours. She’s been here with her friend Katya for about a week, you’ll have to swing by and meet them properly at some point. Sasha, this is Sharon. Alaska’s best friend for- well, you guys have been friends since the dawn of time herself, right?” Shea quickly introduced, Sasha holding her hand out for the taller girl to shake.

Sharon ignored that, and pulled Sasha into a half hug, kissing her on both cheeks in the European style.

“We’ve known each other for a fucking long time, that’s all I know,” Sharon laughed, the rough edge betraying her smoking habit better than the packet of cigarettes poking out of her bag did. “I will come in and get to know you better at some point, I’m always hanging around this place. But I must dash- Jinkx has been sniffing around again.”

There it was again, that loaded look hanging in the air between Shea and Sharon. Sasha knew it wasn’t her place to ask, and there was no way she was going to, that wasn’t the sort of person she was, and never wanted to be. But there was a part of her that couldn’t help wondering about whether or not this was the history Trixie had been warning Katya about. It seemed plausible, that it had something to do with this Jinkx character, but there was no way for Sasha to tell.

Did she tell Katya the small piece of information she’d been able to glean, and potentially have grabbed the wrong end of the stick, leading Katya down a path she didn’t need to go? Or did she wait for Katya to put her plan into action, and hopefully find out the truth from Alaska herself?

Sasha wasn’t sure, and she was still debating it as she handed Sharon her change for the latte she’d ordered, and kissed her goodbye as the blonde hastily hurried out of the door, take away cup in hand. Sasha glanced at Shea, her good mood dissipating as she played the interaction over and over again in her mind, trying to work out what really had been going on between Sharon and Shea.

Sasha usually prided herself on being a perceptive person, but she was completely stumped and at a loss of what to do. All she knew was that she had to watch a wait, a weird foreboding feeling lodging itself in her chest. This could go drastically wrong, and Sasha didn’t know how to stop it.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which we learn a little more about alaska’s past, and katya is told something she doesn’t want to hear

“Who do we have in today?” Alaska asked as she shoved her key into the difficult lock, wiggling it around a little as she turned it. The old wooden door to their shop had always given them grief, ever since the day they’d been given the keys and the coffee shop had become theirs, but they’d never actually gotten round to replacing it. Alaska knew she’d miss it when they did, despite swearing at it frequently.

“You did the rota,” Shea shook her head in disbelief, following Alaska into the cool, dark interior of the store and catching the white flash of Alaska’s teeth as she shot a grin over her shoulder.

“I just put names on the page. You’re the one who memorises them,” she replied, pressing the switch and wincing as the lights flickered on, illuminating the cosy interior of the cafe with a warm yellow light. “It is far too early for this.”

“You’ve said that nearly every morning since we opened this place, can you give it a rest?” Shea fired back, heading into the employee room to dump her stuff and pull her apron on. “And it’s just us two until 9, and then Trixie is in.”

“And then Katya is in this afternoon right?” Alaska asked, deliberately keeping her voice level as she hung her bag up on one of the pegs and pulled out her own apron, sighing as she realised that she’d accidentally packed an old stained apron instead of the one she’d washed and ironed the night before in her haste to get out of the door that morning.

“Oh, so you remember her schedule?” Shea laughed, a light teasing note tinging her words. Alaska flushed a delicate pink, ducking her head as she tried to hide the guilt written all over her face.

“Well, I remember seeing her name when I looked at the rota this morning,” she attempted to defend herself, turning away from the massive grin plastered across Shea’s face.

“But not Manila or Trixie, who you’ve been friends with since we opened this place?” Shea kept her voice light as she passed by Alaska, heading into the shop and beginning to set up for the day ahead.

It was rare that Shea and Alaska worked together, just the pair of them as unless they had a new starter they liked to keep themselves separate so that most of the time one or the other of them was in the shop at any given time. But occasionally, especially if they hadn’t seen each other properly for a while. Alaska liked to schedule them together for a morning shift so they could have a catch up.

“Fuck off,” Alaska replied pleasantly, parking herself in front of the espresso machine and reaching for a damp cloth to wipe down the steam wand.

“You’re hiding something from me,” Shea accused, waggling a pastry in Alaska’s direction as she looked up from where she was stocking the pastry case for the morning rush, knowing exactly what their first customers would want and what she could leave for later on in the day. “And if you think I don’t know what it is…” Shea let her voice trail off.

Alaska tried to keep her face impassive as she shrugged, bending down to open the milk fridge and pull out a carton. “I would never.”

“Don’t play me Alaska, I know exactly what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything, which is half of the problem!” Alaska half laughed, half sighed as she spoke, her mind filled with blonde hair and red lips and long legs as she fussed about. “I’m just looking, which isn’t a crime. And she is wonderful to look at.”

Shea shook her head over the wistful tone in Alaska’s voice as she finished filling the pastry case, before stepping back and looking at her friend, her expression changing from teasing to serious.

“Lask- you do know you can’t get involved with anyone right now, right?” Shea asked gently, abandoning her usual opening tasks in favour of moving closer to Alaska, her arms folded across her chest. Alaska sighed, her head still bowed as she wiped down the already spotless surface in front of her.

“Would it really be that bad?” she asked quietly, more to herself than to Shea. Shea bit her lip, recalling the tearful conversation they’d had that night. The night Alaska wouldn’t let Shea speak about but which now dictated all her words and actions, despite Shea’s best attempts.

“You tell me,” was all she said in the end, turning back to her work, mindful that they still had a shop to open and a business to run.

“I know she’s been sniffing around again, Sharon came over the other day and said she’d been in and told you,” Alaska started, tightening her apron and heading out around the counter to unlock the front door and let business start for the day. “But I have to move on- life has to move on at some point, right?”

Alaska’s voice was almost desperate now as she took her place behind the espresso machine, Shea’s sympathetic expression sending daggers into her heart as she thought back over the past few months, desperately wanting to be able to make this work. Wanting to be able to forget about the past and build a new life for herself and be free to flirt with the newest employee, even if that wasn’t strictly something anyone should do in business.

“It’s only been a couple months Lask,” Shea said, dropping her voice as the first few customers entered, and put the conversation on hold as she served them, passing the drinks orders down to Alaska to fill and grabbing the food herself.

Alaska drowned herself in her work, grateful that the trickle of customers soon turned into a steady flow that kept up for a couple of hours. She knew that herself and Shea had been putting off having this conversation. She also knew that she was the reason why they hadn’t had the conversation, being that she constantly changed the subject any time Shea tried to bring her up, or the events of the past year. Alaska shook her head and threw herself into her work, not wanting to think about it.

*******************

Over the next few hours of business, Shea desperately tried to find even a few minutes to talk to Alaska again and finish saying what she had started that morning, but every time she so much as stepped foot in Alaska’s direction, another customer popped up asking where the restroom was, or for a refill, or complaining about the lack of icing on the cinnamon rolls. Shea half wanted to scream. Most days she longed for a steady stream of customers, ready and willing to part with their hard earned cash to fill her pockets and keep the shop open, but she would have killed that day for just five minutes peace.

Even when Manila and Trixie had clocked on for the day, there was still so much to do out back that Shea wanted to scream, or throttle the next person who so much as dared to look in her direction. For once she’d started getting somewhere with Alaska, and she knew the tall blonde. If she didn’t get Alaska to talk now, the girl would clam up again and they’d have gotten nowhere, and mistakes were sure to be made. And Shea liked Katya, she didn’t want the Russian to be out of a job because of Alaska and that girl.

“Right, Lask and I are going to take our lunch break now,” Shea eventually said as soon as she spied Katya walking through the door, knowing that between Manila, Trixie, and Katya they’d be able to keep the shop going for half an hour.

“Are you su-” Alaska started, but was abruptly broken off by Shea grabbing her forearm and almost dragging her towards the back of the shop. “Right guess we are.”

Shea stayed quiet as she entered the small partner room, waiting as Alaska greeted Katya with a smile and a hug before the Russian tied her apron on and headed out with a ‘so long comrades’.

“Get it off your chest Shea,” Alaska started when she was sure Katya was out of earshot, knowing exactly what her friend had been dying to talk about since she’d let slip that morning what was going on.

“It’s not fair on Katya,” Shea said bluntly, ignoring the way Alaska winced at the harsh words. “You know it’s not, you said you didn’t want to get involved with anyone else, even casually, until she was out of your life for good, and you knew she wouldn’t end up messing everything up for you. Remember that conversation we had? She’s even tried to drive a wedge between you and Sharon, and you weren’t even getting together.”

Shea fell silent again as Alaska took a slow bite of her sandwich, using the time to pause and gather her thoughts after the onslaught of accusations Shea had thrown her way. She knew that Shea had her best interests at heart, and she vividly recalled the conversation they’d had after she’d been kicked to the kerb for the third time, but-

“I just want my life back Shea,” Alaska said quietly, her words driving like a knife into Shea’s heart.

This past year had been hard for the both of them, testing their friendship almost to it’s breaking point and coming close to destroying the business they’d built up from scratch for themselves. Shea didn’t want to police Alaska’s life, but she also couldn’t bear the thought of losing her best friend, confidante, and business partner all in one fell swoop. Not for someone who had been hellbent on destroying Alaska’s life before, and not for someone they barely knew, as much as they liked her.

“And you will,” Shea said, swallowing hard and placing her sandwich on the table, her appetite having disappeared almost completely. “You know you will. But- you can’t risk her coming around and destroying everything again before you’ve even had a chance to build something with Katya.”

Alaska made to interrupt, but Shea put up a hand and stopped her words where they were, not letting Alaska speak until she’d gotten out what she’d been wanting to say for a while now, and especially since the blonde Russian had walked into their shop and Shea had seen the dull light in Alaska’s eyes reignite.

“Even something casual could end up going so wrong if she comes back and gets into Katya’s head. It’s happened before, we both know that. I don’t- at the end of the day it’s up to you Alaska. But I don’t want to lose this.” Shea gestured around the tiny room, the meaning clear.

They’d worked too hard to build their coffee shop up to the successful business it was. Neither of them could risk losing that, and losing everything they had. Without the coffee shop, they were nothing.

********************************

“Alaska was acting so weird today,” Katya shook her head as she burst through the door to her apartment, keys and purse dropping around her as she pulled off her coat and slung it over the nearest chair, Sasha’s naturally neat heart breaking at the mess Katya created without even thinking.

“What do you mean?” She asked, spinning around on her chair and putting down her paintbrush, accepting that the peace had been broken for the evening and her artistic endeavours would have to be put on hold until the human hurricane had blown itself out for the night.

“I thought she’d been flirting with me for the past couple of weeks,” Katya started, grabbing a hairband from the table and piling her hair on top of her head, securing it in a messy bun. “But today she just- she just sort of ignored me.”

Sasha frowned, not entirely knowing what to say.

“Well- she is the boss. And workplace romances aren’t generally encouraged,” was all Sasha managed in the end, chewing on a loose piece of skin on her lip. “Maybe she got cold feet, maybe she’s not actually sing-” Sasha’s voice trailed off as she remembered the prior incident with Sharon coming into the shop, and the weird vibe she’d gotten radiating between Sharon and Shea.

“What?” Katya immediately asked suspiciously, her innate ability to read Sasha like an open book affording her the knowledge of knowing when Sasha had something to hide.

“Nothing,” Sasha replied quickly. Too quickly.

Katya’s eyes narrowed and she advanced on Sasha, not giving the Russian anywhere to escape.

“You’re hiding something from me,” Katya accused, folding her arms across her chest as she loomed above the seated Sasha, who shrank back from the fire in Katya’s eyes.

“It’s- it’s nothing,” Sasha prefaced, drawing her words out to give herself time to think about what she was actually going to say. She still wasn’t convinced that she wanted to tell Katya about Sharon coming in, and what she’d said to Shea, and how weird the look between the pair of them had been. Katya had a tendency to barrel into things with all guns blazing, not thinking about the consequences until after the event.

It had ended badly for them many times before now, and Sasha was reluctant to give her friend the fuel she needed for her fire. Despite her earlier reluctance to get a steady job to pay the bills, Sasha had actually been enjoying the day to day routine of working at the cafe and getting to know the regulars and her co-workers. Or, co-worker, as it really happened to be. On the other hand, she knew Katya wouldn’t leave her alone until placated with nothing but the absolute truth.

“It’s about Alaska,” Sasha said eventually, letting out a deep breath as she paused once more at the end of her sentence, gathering her thoughts and trying to find the right words to frame the incident without making it out to be more than it was.

Katya just looked at her friend as though she were stupid, taking a step backwards to fall onto the sofa now she had the reassurance that Sasha was going to tell her what was going on.

“I figured,” Katya said bluntly, wishing she could take back her words as she saw an embarrassed look flash across Sasha’s face.

“You’ve met her friend Sharon, right?”

Katya nodded, a frown creasing her forehead as she tried to prematurely piece together the bits of the puzzle without knowing the whole story, a bad habit she’d picked up years ago and had never been able to get rid of.

“Alaska’s dating Sharon?” she asked, frown deepening as Sasha shook her head. “Well then, what’s she got to do with it?”

“You’d know if you’d shut up for five minutes and let me tell the story,” Sasha said with a roll of her eyes.

Katya obediently mimed zipping her lips and looked over at Sasha expectantly.

“She came in a few weeks back when you had a day off, and Alaska wasn’t in either, and said something to Shea about someone sniffing around Alaska again, and that she needed to go and find her and talk to her,” Sasha said, trying to recall the incident and explain as clearly as she could. “It didn’t tell me much, but the look they shared was - it was weird. It felt like there was something going on that neither of them wanted me to know, but that it was urgent that Alaska was told, and I could only think that maybe it had something to do with a messy ex.”

Katya stayed silent for a moment as she digested the information Sasha had just given her, turning over the limited knowledge that they now shared in her mind in an attempt to make sense of it. She came to the same conclusion Sasha had, seeing no other way the news could be interpreted and make sense. The Russian exchanged a long stare with Sasha, both of them conveying more with their eyes than they could with words, neither of them knowing how exactly to approach the situation.

“Fuck.”


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which sasha makes a move, and katya begs for a favour

Sasha had nearly forgotten about the conversation she’d had the night before with Katya about Alaska’s weird behaviour. After staring at each other in silence for several minutes as both Russians had digested the possibilities of what could be going on, Katya had drifted off to her bedroom, and Sasha had lost herself back in her art, losing track of time as she did so. It had been a shock when she’d finally looked up and seen the clock read 01:00 in flashing red letters, and it had been with a sinking heart that she realised she only had five hours until she had to be at work.

And so it was with unfocused eyes and a fuzzy mind that she headed down the stairs and across the road to the coffee shop, not entirely sure who she was or what she was supposed to be doing. But the sight of Shea unlocking the front door had jolted her awake, the long, glossy hair and thighs encased in tight black trousers almost as good as a shot of adrenaline to the heart. Everything they’d spoken about the previous evening flooded back into her brain and she stared at Shea in delirious horror.

“You alright?” Shea asked as she barged open the door with her hip, her hands filled with various bags and folders.

Sasha shook her head slightly to snap herself out of the confused funk she’d slipped into, not really wanting to let on to Shea that she’d told Katya about the Sharon incident.

“Yeah, I just didn’t get much sleep,” she replied, blushing at the teasing glint that entered Shea’s eye. “Not like that!”

Sasha smacked Shea lightly on the arm, the taller girl ducking away from her and into the shop.

“Hey! Hey! I didn’t say anything,” Shea protested, dumping her stuff on one of the nearby tables and the door as Sasha entered.

“You didn’t have to, I could see what you were thinking.”

“Right, so you’re psychic now?” Shea teased, sorting through her bags and giving Sasha various folders to hold.

“Maybe I am. But if I am, I am a very single psychic,” Sasha fumbled out her words, not wanting to give Shea any reason to think that she might have someone special in her life. Because she didn’t. Besides Katya. And Katya was more like a sister than a friend, and Sasha did not want to sleep with her - shut up brain!

“Um, what are these for?” Sasha asked quickly, nodding to the files and folders Shea had piled into her arms and banishing all thoughts of sleeping with anyone out of her mind. Shea gave her a curious look, but went along with it anyway.

“It’s nearly the end of the month, which means I have about a thousand pieces of paperwork to fill out, and we need to do the big stocktake of everything in the shop, which Alaska and I usually do one evening with wine and pizza,” Shea explained, gesturing for Sasha to follow her to the tiny office next to the employee break room in the back of the shop.

Sasha followed her in silence, debating furiously in her mind. Did she offer to help Shea, or was that too forward? Sasha didn’t know. The only thing she did know was that if she didn’t speak now, the opportunity to be alone with Shea might not show itself again.

Sasha placed the folders down on the already overflowing desk, and swallowed hard, trying to ignore the ball of anxiety that had lodged itself in her chest, her heart racing.

“I - uh,” Sasha started, falling over her words before she’d even managed to get them out.

“Yeah?” Shea hummed, long deft fingers quickly flipping through a stack of paper.

“If you, um, wanted help or anything,” Sasha trailed off again, trying desperately to not chicken out of saying what she wanted to. “I just live across the road and - I’m really good at counting,” she finished lamely, berating herself for not being the suave and flirty woman she wanted to be. This was why she needed Katya with her at all times. Flirting seemed to come naturally to her friend, and Sasha had always been in awe of her talents.

Luckily, Shea was looking at her with warm, grateful eyes, and not like she’d completely lost it like Sasha had been scared of.

“That would be amazing,” she said, hustling Sasha out of the room again so they could start setting up for the busy day ahead. “I know Alaska hates end of the month stock take. She doesn’t have the attention span or the patience, and I think she’d be more than grateful for a reason not to do it,” Shea added with a laugh.

Sasha managed to smile back as she set herself up in front of the espresso machine and began to get everything ready for the day.

“Anything to make her life easier,” Sasha replied, internally grinning and congratulating herself on saying something nearly normal. “When do you usually do it?”

Shea glanced over at Sasha, an uncharacteristic nervous aura surrounding her as she shrugged, trying her hardest to look nonchalant.

“If you’re not doing anything tonight, we could get it over and done with? I’m warning you now, it’s honestly more exciting to stick pins in your eyes,” Shea laughed, quickly and efficiently stocking the pastry case, aware they had very little time left to finish getting everything ready before the first irate and under-caffeinated customers appeared at their door.

“Tonight is good with me,” Sasha said, ducking her head to hide the wide smile that spread across her face as she reveled in the prospect of spending several hours alone in the shop with Shea, only good wine and pizza keeping them company.

“It’s a date.”

Sasha thought she was actually going to drop down dead.

**********************************************

The lunchtime rush was only just beginning to die down when Katya blustered into the shop, a vision in several problem patterns and wind blown hair.

“Do not worry mes amigos, for the vati has landed,” Katya announced as she walked behind the bar, mixing and butchering several languages as she kissed each person individually, before disappearing as quickly as she’d entered into the back room.

Shea looked after her, a puzzled look slowly spreading across her face.

“You know, the more I get to know her, the more I don’t understand her,” Trixie said from where she was stood in the kitchen, pink bow pinned to the side of her bun, matching the embroidered pink bows on her apron.

Shea nodded in agreement, switching her gaze to look at Sasha, who just threw her hands up.

“Don’t look at me, I’m not her keeper,” Sasha defended, deftly pouring milk into a latte, before pressing the lid on and handing it off to the customer stood in front of her.

“Do you ever get used to her?” Shea amended what she was going to ask.

Sasha laughed, grabbing the next cup and beginning to steam the milk. “I’ll let you know. We’ve been friends since we were four years old, and she still manages to surprise me daily.”

“She’s one of the funniest people I think I’ve ever met,” Trixie piped up, moving to lean against the doorframe.

“You’re not wrong,” Sasha agreed. “It’s one of the reasons we had to leave Russia in the end. Girl just does not know when to keep her mouth shut.”

“It’s true. It’s my only downfall,” Katya’s voice floated across the shop to them, Trixie squeaking as the Russian unexpectedly threw an arm around her shoulders. “You are looking ravishing today, my little pink mate. Where’s Alaska?”

Sasha threw an alarmed look in Katya’s direction. She wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that she had a giant boner for Alaska anymore. Katya studiously ignored her friend, keeping her steady gaze fixed on Trixie instead, who had two pale pink spots of blush appearing on her cheeks.

“I- I don’t know,” Trixie said helplessly, gesturing towards Shea. “Shea will know.”

Shea turned her head at the sound of her name, one brow raised and open sharpie poised in her hand.

“Alaska? I told her I didn’t need her tonight, so she’s taken the day off to go and visit Sharon I think. Manila’s coming in to cover her shift, she has vet bills or something to pay so she wanted extra hours,” Shea explained.

Katya’s face fell at this news, to the general confusion of everyone who wasn’t Sasha. Sasha tried to suppress an eye roll, Katya’s new tactic of not hiding her feelings for Alaska making her want to stab herself in the eyeballs with a spork. It was one thing to ask where Alaska was when you thought she was meant to be working that day. It was another thing entirely to very visibly show how disappointed you were by the news that she wasn’t going to be in at all. Katya studiously ignored Sasha’s piercing look, instead disappearing into the back room again to grab her apron. Trixie and Shea both immediately turned to look at Sasha, who answered their questioning looks with a small shrug, not trusting herself to not say anything incriminating. This day was meant to be perfect, she wasn’t about to let Katya’s feelings running wild and free spoil it for her.

A few hours later, when the afternoon rush had begun and the confusion around Katya’s disappointment died down, Sasha found herself working the bar with Katya as her support. Voices drowned out by the roar of the steaming milk, Sasha took the opportunity to ask her so-called best friend a few questions, hopeful that everyone else was too busy to pay attention to them.

“What was that all about earlier?” Sasha hissed, keeping her voice low as she accepted a cup from Katya and poured milk into it.

“What are you talking about?’ Katya replied, matching her tone to Sasha’s as she pumped syrup into the next cup.

“You. Asking about Alaska. Do you want to make your crush on her anymore obvious?” Sasha asked, pressing the lid onto the cup with more force than she had intended. Katya just shrugged.

“I was looking forward to seeing her again,” was the only explanation Sasha got, despite the probing questions she continued to ask with increasing frustration.

Eventually the Russian gave up, realising she wasn’t going to get anywhere with the weird mood Katya had clearly woken up in. With an exasperated sigh, she lapsed into a momentary silence before remembering the good news she had to impart to her friend, news she’d forgotten all about since Katya had arrived for work.

“I’m doing stock take with Shea tonight,” Sasha said, still keeping her voice low as she looked over at Katya, expecting an excited response akin to how she felt. Instead she got a burst of laughter from her left as Katya tried to contain her mirth.

“Stocktake, wow,” Katya said, ducking her head and passing a cup along to Sasha. “Shea sure does know how to show a girl a good time. Make sure you don’t get too frisky as you count endless bags of coffee beans,” Katya continued, quickly side stepping to avoid Sasha’s slap.

“I offered to help you idiot,” Sasha told her, passing out the next drink to the next customer, before focusing back on the topic at hand. “It’s a chance for us to finally be alone together, and Shea said she’ll get wine and pizza. Who knows where it’ll go from here!”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing you. At least one of us is getting somewhere,” Katya sighed wistfully, her eyes turning soft as she thought of the bow legged blonde who had stolen her heart without even trying. Sasha offered up a smile, knowing how much the Alaska business was getting to her friend.

“Look, Kat. If you and Alaska are meant to be, something will happen. If not well- at least you have her friendship, and we have this stable job, and we’re chasing our dreams in the city we’ve always wanted to live in. Life isn’t so bad, right?”

Katya shook her head. “No. But Alaska would just- make it perfect.”

She drifted into silence for a moment as the pair worked quickly and efficiently to get the drinks made and out to the customers who had ordered them. Both Shea and Alaska scheduled Katya and Sasha to work like this when they could, having realised that the pair worked almost with one brain, each being able to intuitively know what the other was doing. And the Russian’s certainly weren’t about to start complaining.

As the last rush of the day began to die down, Katya’s eyes lit up and she turned urgently to Sasha.

“I know this is your big chance to try and get into Shea’s pants,” Katya started, ignoring the look she got from her friend. “But- try and find out what this messy ex business is with Alaska? If it even is messy ex business at all. If I just know what’s going on with her, I’ll know how to approach her. Please?”

Sasha was about to reply that she wasn’t going to spoil her perfect evening by asking Shea about Alaska’s private business, when Katya turned her infamous puppy dog eyes on her. Sasha sighed. It was hopeless trying to say no to the Russian. At least, Sasha had never been able to, and Katya did at least repay every favour she was granted.

“Fine. I’ll try and find out what I can,” she said, smiling as Katya’s face lit up with a happy grin, and she pressed a big kiss to Sasha’s cheek.

“I’ll buy us dinner tomorrow and we can have a big ol’ chat.” Katya told her, laughing as Sasha rolled her eyes and turned back to the task in hand, only an hour or so left now before the shop was shut up for the day.

“I hate you.”

“That is a categoric lie, and your nose is going to start growing.”


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which sasha spies an opportunity, gleans some information, and finds out something she really doesn’t want to

Sasha barely paid attention to the rest of her shift. Katya laughed as Sasha pulled decaf instead of caffeinated coffee, handed the drinks to Trixie instead of the customers, and mixed up the various cakes and pastries the shop sold. Luckily for the Russians, the shop was too busy for Shea to notice her various blunders, and Katya’s infectious energy smoothed over any irate customers before they could even make a complaint. Sasha had never been so grateful for her odd friend, and made a mental note to make it up to her by taking one of Katya’s long shifts the following week that the blonde had been complaining about.

But eventually the hours passed, the customers began to trickle out, and the endless cleaning process began to get the shop ready for the next day. Sasha was finishing wiping the stainless steel counter tops down when Katya slipped an arm around her waist and hugged her quickly.

“I’m off out, Trixie and I are going to go and get dinner,” Katya said, the two friends quickly glancing over at where the blonde was pulling on her coat. Sasha nodded, turning her attention back to the gleaming surface in front of her.

“Maybe Trixie can be your new Alaska,” Sasha said, only half joking. Deep down, she did think Katya would eventually have to move on from their boss. It had been weeks since they’d started working in the shop now, and Alaska had only shown a passing interest in Katya at the beginning.

Since then, radio silence.

And Trixie was pretty, blonde, and lovely, which ticked nearly every box and was basically all that Katya looked for in a potential partner. Although - Katya was such a handful, Sasha wasn’t sure she wanted to inflict all of that on Trixie.

“Shut up,” was the only reply Katya had, although she filed away Sasha’s suggestion in the back of her mind. There was something there, in what Sasha had said. Katya wasn’t blind. She’d noticed the interest Trixie had taken in her, and the lack of interest Alaska had taken in her. She knew there was definitely something she could do with that information. She just hadn’t finalised her plans yet.

“C’mon Kat, you know-” Sasha broke off as Katya held up a hand to stop her. “Fine. Anything else?”

“No. I’ll see you back at home, whenever that is. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and don’t forget to ask about Alaska.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sasha said, pressing a kiss to Katya’s cheek before pushing her away. “Your date awaits, don’t stay out too late.”

Katya flashed a toothy grin in Sasha’s direction, before bouncing off to slip her arm through the crook of Trixie’s elbow, the barbie blonde flushing an attractive shade of pink. Sasha waved the pair off, walking after them to lock the door and make sure the sign hanging on the clear glass was switched to ‘closed’.

“I give you ten minutes before you’re bored to tears.”

Sasha nearly jumped out of her skin as Shea’s dulcet tones sounded from behind the, the amused edge to her tone lending Sasha to believe the other girl was joking. Well, half joking Sasha corrected mentally as she turned to see a look of trepidation on Shea’s face.

“Is it really that bad?” Sasha asked, folding her arms across her chest and crossing over to stand next to Shea, who had an open folder on the table in front of her. Sasha cast her inexperienced eye over the reams and reams of lists, flipping through the sheets of paper contained within the cardboard casing. Not for the first time that day, Sasha felt the knot of anxiety grip her stomach, but this time it wasn’t about Shea. She’d been so focused on being able to spend several hours alone with the younger woman that she hadn’t actually taken into consideration the fact that this wasn’t just an opportunity to chat with Shea. This was actual work.Work that she’d never done before, and work that Shea could probably do in her sleep. If Sasha didn’t mess it up, she’d - well, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. But she would definitely be grateful to whoever was out there looking out for her.

Shea noticed the fleeting worry pass over Sasha’s face, and gave her arm a comforting squeeze.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. It’s honestly just counting, you’ll have the hang of it within no time. And even if it takes us longer than it takes me and Alaska, it’ll just be nice to have some decent conversation without the constant whining,” Shea told her with a laugh, flipping back through the pages Sasha had turned over.

“Is she really that bad?” Sasha asked.

Shea shrugged. “She knows how to throw a tantrum. And she has no patience for the admin work we have to do to keep the shop running. But she’s incredible otherwise, our customers absolutely love her. I just wish she’d occasionally do payroll.” Shea shook her head, and pointed at the first list that appeared on the page.

“See here,” Shea began. “If I show you what to do with the first one, all the others are literally done in the same way. Just different stock. But it’s all pretty self explanatory.”

Sasha nodded, trying to keep her eyes focused and her mind concentrating on what Shea was saying to her. But the Russian was hyper aware of how Shea’s arm was brushing up against her own, and what the velvet tones of Shea’s voice were doing to her, and - Sasha closed her eyes tightly. She had to get a grip of herself before Shea’s reassurances that Sasha would be fine went completely out of the window.

Almost on autopilot, Sasha followed Shea into the back storage room, nodding and shaking her head automatically in response to Shea’s questioning. Yes, she completely and absolutely knew what she was doing. No, she didn’t need Shea to go through it again.

Yes, it would be a miracle if even one of the lists she completed was correct.

************************

The first hour passed fairly quickly. Sasha knew it would have been mind numbingly dull work under any other circumstances. Counting and recounting various items of stock certainly wasn’t the way she’d envisioned spending her life. But Shea’s company made it more than bearable. Having gotten to know her over the past weeks, Sasha knew that Shea was warm, open, and kind. What she hadn’t been able to get to see in the pressurised environment of the coffee shop was that Shea was also hilarious. Sasha genuinely thought she was going to have to lie down for a week to let her muscles recover.

“We’re halfway through already,” Shea broke in halfway through her own story as her eyes caught sight of the list Sasha was clutching, a note of surprise tinging her voice.

Sasha glanced down at the folder, her own eyes widening as she realised that she’d just been writing and ticking what Shea told her to without even concentrating. Her heart sank slightly. Sure, counting stock wasn’t interesting. But being halfway through meant that her time with Shea was nearly up, and she didn’t think she’d managed to get anywhere with Shea. As a friend, absolutely. Sasha felt as comfortable with Shea now as she did with Katya, and she’d known Katya her whole life. But in any other way? Sasha wasn’t the best flirt in the world, nor did she think she’d recognise someone flirting with her even if they held a massive sign in their hands that read “THIS IS ME FLIRTING”, but she was more than convinced Shea only saw her as a friend.

She tuned back in when she realised Shea had been looking at her questioningly, as though waiting for an answer. Sasha flushed a bright crimson and bit her lip, knowing she’d not heard a word Shea had said.

“Uh, can you repeat that?” Sasha asked, trying not to let the rising embarrassment get to her too much. Shea smiled at her, and Sasha’s stomach did a backflip.

How was it possible for one person to be able to light up the room like they had swallowed the sun?

“I said, do you want to order pizza to the shop, or do you want to just whizz through the rest of the stock count and go to this lovely restaurant around the corner afterwards?”

Sasha froze, not entirely sure she’d heard Shea right. Sure, Shea had promised that there would be dinner involved. But there had been no mention of going out for dinner…. Sasha swallowed hard. Maybe they had been flirting after all- maybe that was wishful thinking. But maybe, just maybe, Sasha wasn’t as crap at this as she thought she was.

“I’m not that hungry yet. Do you just want to get this finished now? We - we’re getting into a good rhythm,” Sasha said, feeling sure that her weak attempt at ‘flirting’ would fly under the radar.

“It’s a date,” Shea replied warmly.

Sasha squeaked and ducked her head, intently counting the syrup bottles she’d been focused on before.

***********************************

“-so then I open the door, and Katya’s stood there dressed like it’s the middle of fucking summer, and I kid you not the snowstorm had been going on for about three days by this point-”

Sasha had spent most of the rest of their stock count regaling Shea with tales from her childhood growing up in Russia alongside Katya, the other woman convinced she was making half of them up. Some of them, like the one she was telling Shea currently, were pretty tame, but the others sounded straight out of the plot of a movie. In fact, Sasha was sure that if her and Katya were to ever fall on hard times again, they could sell Katya’s life stories to the major studios.

“So what did you do?” Shea asked, a twinkle in her eye as her vivid imagination painted a picture of the strong willed Sasha and Katya battling it out in the middle of the Russian winter.

Sasha pulled her coat down from the hook and slipped it around her shoulders before answering.

“I should have shut the door in her face,” Sasha sighed, folding her apron neatly and placing it inside her bag, before slinging it over her shoulder. “But I let her in and she fell asleep on the couch. I honestly - I still don’t know what she was doing or what she was thinking. Which is a recurrent theme in my life.” Sasha’s tone held a note of dry amusement, but Shea could feel the years of hardship and hurt behind it.

She’d not managed to glean a lot of information about the Russian’s past before that evening, but what she had been able to work out was that the pair of them moving to America wasn’t something Sasha had wanted.

“I don’t know how you live with her,” Shea laughed, shrugging on her own coat and grabbing her keys. “It’s bad enough trying to keep her in line at work.”

Sasha smiled and led the way out of the tiny partner room, Shea turning off the lights behind them.

“You get sort of… used to it after a while. She’s loud, and messy, and sleeps a lot rather than tidying up but - I wouldn’t live life any other way now. Besides she’s been a little … preoccupied lately,” Sasha replied, choosing her words carefully.

“Preoccupied?” Shea queried, making sure everything was in it’s place for Alaska to open up the shop in the morning. Sasha did one last check of her own, knowing Shea liked to have a second pair of eyes check over her work.

“Yeah-” Sasha started, wondering if this was the in she needed to get Katya’s questions answered. It would get it all over and done with before they got to the restaurant, and would stop Katya’s inevitable sulk if Sasha didn’t manage to get any information out of Shea. “-when Katya gets, uh, infatuated with someone, it sort of just - takes over her life and leaves little room for anything else.”

It wasn’t much, but Sasha was hoping Shea would live up to her perceptive reputation and work out what she was talking about without Sasha needing to explicitly sound it out.

“Alaska, right?”

As usual, Shea had hit the proverbial nail on the head. Sasha didn’t know how she did it, but she nodded all the same, hoping Shea’s ability to read everyone in the room didn’t extend to Sasha’s crush.

“Yeah.” Sasha felt silent again, hesitating slightly, unsure of what she should say and how far she should go. She wanted to get answers for Katya, but at the same time she was very aware that Shea and Alaska were the closest of friends, and the two Russians had to work with them for the foreseeable future, if they wanted to keep their apartment and the lifestyle they’d gotten used to.

“What is it?” Shea probed, any attempt to put last minute bits in the cafe in order abandoned as she turned to Sasha, her entire focus on what the older woman had to say.

“Is there, uh-” Sasha broke off again as she tried to get her phrasing straight in her mind. If Katya and herself had read the entire situation wrong, she didn’t want to offend Shea by making assumptions off of one situation. But at the same time, Katya needed to know as much detail as possible in order to stop her overactive imagination driving both herself and Sasha wild. “That day that Sharon came into the shop, was there-”

“Anything weird going on?” Shea finished the sentence for Sasha.

Sasha nodded, chewing on a loose piece of skin on her lip. “I don’t mean to intrude or anything, but Katya is - she’s like my sister, and I promised her parents I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And I haven’t been prying or anything, but… I know Alaska’s got some past with some ex or something, and I just need - I need to know Katya isn’t going to get hurt.”

Shea nodded slowly, not surprised that Sasha had caught glimpses of information about Alaska’s past. In fact, she was more surprised that she didn’t know more than she already did.

“It’s not- it’s not my story to tell,” Shea began carefully, having not had to deal with this situation before. Trixie and Manila already knew the entire story, and they hadn’t had to tell anyone else since it had all happened. “But you’re right. Alaska… it’s long and complicated, but basically she - there was this entire love triangle - well, no. It was more of a square with Alaska and these girls called Jinkx, Courtney, and Willam. We’ve all been friends since we were in grade school, and I would have done anything for these girls, but messy feelings got involved and-”

Shea broke off as she spied the look of confusion on Sasha’s face. A small smile flitted across her own before she just sighed.

“To cut a long story short, Alaska ended up with Jinkx, Willam and Courtney stopped talking to us, and it all - it all went downhill very quickly. Alaska’s still dealing with the fallout and we both said … we both had a long conversation and decided that we’d put all our energy into the shop until Jinkx and Alaska sorted everything out and got completely out of each other’s lives.”

Sasha’s head was spinning with the new information Shea had given her. She still didn’t know exactly what had happened, and she was still trying to process everything that Shea had just told her, but one sentence stood out quite clearly to the Russian.

…decided we’d put all our energy into the shop…

We’d.

Shea had spoken about the two of them, not just Alaska. Sasha didn’t know what she meant by that, but she had a feeling that if she asked, she wouldn’t be entirely happy with the answer.

“Oh,” Sasha said tightly, an internal battle beginning within her. Maybe she’d interpreted Shea’s signs all wrong after all. She’d been hopeful that the other girl had been flirting with her, been hopeful that they were on the same page but maybe- maybe Sasha was just wishfully thinking. A knot of anxiety twisted her stomach and rose through her to grip her chest like a vice.

“Are you alright?” Shea asked, noticing that Sasha’s face had paled, and she looked like she was about to be sick.

Sasha shook her head quickly, torn between going out to dinner with Shea and pretending like it didn’t hurt to just be going for dinner, or making her excuses now and going home to nurse her shattered heart.

“I-I’m getting a headache I think- I need to go home.”

With that, Sasha flung her bag over her shoulder and nearly sprinted from the shop, the door banging shut behind her as Shea stared after her retreating back, the unsaid words hanging from her lips and her mind racing a mile a minute as she tried to work out what had just gone on.

*****************************************

“You’re back ear-” Katya started as Sasha burst through the door, her voice trailing off as she watched Sasha sprint right past her. Katya’s mouth hung open in shock. She could have sworn that Sasha’s eyes were glistening bright with unshed tears, and she had absolutely no idea why.

Abandoning all thoughts of getting Sasha to spill whatever information she’d gleaned from Shea, Katya padded over to the bedroom door Sasha had just slammed shut and knocked quietly. Getting no answer from inside, Katya gently pushed open the door and stepped inside, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dimly lit room as she searched out Sasha.

“Sasha?” Katya asked, before spying the girl curled up under a mountain of blankets. “What’s going on?” She added, switching from English to Russian without really thinking about it.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sasha replied, also in Russian, her voice strangely muffled by the blankets and tinged with sadness. Katya bit her lip, before sitting down on the edge of the bed and placing a hand on what she roughly guessed was Sasha’s shoulder.

“What happened with Shea?” Katya probed, not willing to leave Sasha alone in this state but not knowing how to help until Sasha told her what’s going on.

“Nothing, it’s stupid,” Sasha replied, her shoulders heaving with what Katya could only assume were her sobs. “She just- she said stuff about Alaska and then she said we’d and it’s stupid but-”

Sasha broke off again, coughing into the sheets beneath her head. Katya frowned. None of what Sasha had just said made any sense, and she had no idea how to respond. Filing away the news that Sasha now had information about Alaska, Katya (rather heroically, she thought) focused back on what was making Sasha so upset.

“But- Sasha, I have no idea what you’re on about,” Katya eventually said, still not knowing how best to comfort her friend.

“She- Shea isn’t looking for a relationship and I thought we’d been flirting but it was all just in my head again,” Sasha explained, comprehension dawning on Katya’s face.

“Oh Sasha,” Katya said gently, making the executive decision to burrow under the covers and spoon Sasha. The move was reminiscent of all of the nights they’d spent together back in Russia, whispering about their days and the prejudice they’d faced, and dreaming of a better life.

This was meant to be their better life, but it didn’t look like much had changed.

Katya didn’t know what to do, or what to say to the quietly sobbing Sasha, and just held her gently until the Russian drifted off to sleep, exhausted by the hard day of work and the rollercoaster emotions running around her body.

All she could do was hope things would look better in the morning.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which katya loses something important, finds someone to help her look and tensions rise as we see a trio interact

Katya had almost forgotten the events of the previous night, until she opened her eyes to reveal a completely different ceiling to the one she usually swore at. Momentary confusion flashed across her face, until a sudden dawning realisation sent her blood running cold like ice through her veins. Of course, she was in Sasha’s room still, having fallen asleep still cuddled up next to her friend. But the bed felt too cold for Sasha to still be in it, and Katya rolled over to discover she was, in fact, alone in the room. Gathering up Sasha’s blankets around her, Katya slid out of bed, wincing as her delicate feet hit the cold wooden flooring, and padded through into the living area in the hopes that Sasha would be there.

Such hopes proved futile, however. Sasha was neither sat at her easel, nor sat on the couch, nor singing in the kitchen as she usually did on a morning. The only evidence that the Russian had ever passed through was the still hot cafetiere full of coffee that was perched on the table beside Katya’s usual mug, evidently waiting for the blonde.

“Fucking fuck balls,” Katya swore, tightening the blankets around her as she tipped up the cafetiere and poured the steaming liquid into her mug, before adding plenty of creamer and sugar, tipping a little more in than usual to give her the extra energy the day was clearly asking for after starting in such an auspicious manner.

Katya couldn’t remember if Sasha was working or not on that day, and a quick glance over at the calendar Sasha had stuck to their fridge with a magnet in the shape of the Statue of Liberty proved to not be able to answer her question. Sasha was usually so diligent about filling in when her shifts were, but the rota had only gone up the day before and clearly in the heat of the moment, Sasha’s priorities were not to write down when she was working for no one’s benefit but Katya’s, who could only just barely remember her name on a good day.

That meant Katya would have to get dressed, go all the way downstairs, cross the street, and go all the way into the cafe, and Sasha might not even be there. She sighed again.

“The things I do for love,” she muttered as she sipped at the sickly sweet, burning hot liquid inside her mug. If Katya couldn’t feel the scorch on all her internal organs, her coffee simply wasn’t hot enough, and Sasha always made sure to prepare the coffee hotter than needed so that it would be just right when Katya eventually emerged from her cage. That hint of normality meant Katya wasn’t worried about her friend, in the way that she felt she probably should be after Sasha’s tears the previous evening. But if she had her wits about her enough that she was still engaging in the usual morning ritual, everything was going to be okay.

Katya just had to keep telling herself that.

Half an hour later saw the Russian jamming a beanie hat featuring a fetching pom pom onto her head and wrapping her striped scarf around her neck. Glancing one last time into the mirror to check her appearance lest Sasha appear out of nowhere and frown at her, Katya decided that she would do, and slung her bag over her shoulder, cramming in keys, card holder, and emergency underwear as she went.

“Is Sasha around?” Katya asked before she’d even finished opening the door, Trixie glancing up in shock from where she was fiddling with the receipt printer, her cheeks colouring a delicate rose.

“Uh, no? I’m pretty sure she’s not in today,” Trixie answered, abandoning what she was doing in order to stare at Katya in abject confusion. Katya brushed off the look, staring around the cafe in case Trixie was mistaken, and Sasha was crouching in a corner somewhere. “Don’t you live with her?”

Katya nodded in response to Trixie’s question, oblivious to the unspoken judgement underlying her words. “Yeah, but she wasn’t there this morning. Just coffee.”

If Katya thought that her explanation would clear things up for Trixie, she was sorely mistaken. Several lines appeared on Trixie’s brow as she scrunched her nose up, Katya finally paying attention to the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

“So… you thought you’d just come and see if she was here?” Trixie asked, trying her best to understand what Katya was doing but knowing that ultimately, the only person who ever knew what Katya was up to was Katya, with the exception of occasionally Sasha. But she wasn’t there to translate.

“Yeah,” Katya nodded, stepping up to the counter and grabbing a banana from the display. “I thought she might be working.”

Katya dropped a dollar in Trixie’s outstretched palm, grinning madly as the confusion only grew on Trixie’s face. Now she’d cottoned on to what was happening, she was enjoying making the blonde’s brain run round in circles in an attempt to decode what Katya had told her and get to the bottom of the matter.

“You live with her, and she wasn’t there, so you came here instead?” Trixie said slowly, Katya nodding like a madwoman. “Right. Do you not, y’know, talk to each other? Or have a calendar? This is 2017, not 1017.”

Katya cackled as Trixie spoke, before shrugging. “She didn’t write her shifts on the calendar like she usually does. I mean- I think she told me what she was doing, but I can’t remember what she said.”

“She’s not in today.”

The familiar drawl of Alaska’s deep, musical voice sounded from somewhere over Trixie’s left shoulder and the blonde turned around, swearing under her breath at the fact that Alaska had once again managed to steal the show and Katya’s attention before Trixie could even thank the Russian for the delights of the previous evening.

Katya beamed in Alaska’s direction, the blindingly white toothed smile lodging itself somewhere to the left of Trixie’s chest, making her feel like she physically couldn’t breathe.

“Thank you! That- that means that she’s somewhere else.” As quick as Katya’s joy had appeared, it left again, leaving behind a look in Katya’s eye that Trixie had never seen before.

She knew the two Russians were close, and she knew that a friendship like theirs was rare and unique, but in the past she’d made the mistake of assuming that it was one in which Sasha looked after and out for Katya, making sure that the blonde stayed alive, but never the other way round. But seeing the look in Katya’s eyes now Trixie saw that it worked two ways, but over the years they’d adapted to how the other worked. Katya looked out for Sasha just as much as Sasha looked out for Katya, but it wasn’t as obvious, and you wouldn’t see it unless you were looking.

“Are you alright?” Alaska was asking, taking a step forwards as if to comfort the Russian with her presence. Trixie stepped to the side, watching the interaction between the pair with eagle eyes.

She wasn’t blind, or stupid, no matter what Manila said and no matter what stories Alaska and Shea had. She’d seen the way Katya looked at Alaska, and the way Alaska tried desperately to pretend that Katya didn’t affect her in a way that her past flings never had. People assumed because Trixie was loud and brash that she didn’t see what was going on, but she did. She saw more than most, she was good friends with everyone in the shop and privy to some of their most vulnerable moments. Trixie knew she had to get to Katya before Alaska opened her heart and let Katya in in the way the Russian was so desperate for her to.

Trixie knew she had to trap Katya before it was too late. The only problem was, she had no idea how to go about getting her, how to tear Katya’s attentions away from the ethereal blonde and onto her, Trixie Mattel. She knew she was beautiful, she knew she was funny, she knew she was right for Katya in a way that Alaska wasn’t, and never would be. And she had no baggage, no exes waiting in the background to destroy everything and turn both Alaska and Katya’s world upside down once more.

Trixie glanced at the clock before tuning back into the conversation the two were having, the words ‘Sasha’, ‘not there’, and ‘look for her’ having seeped into her subconscious and given her a pretty good idea what was going on.

“I finish my shift in ten minutes, if you wait I’ll come help you look. You shouldn’t be alone right now,” Trixie butted right into Alaska’s sentence, not caring about the blonde’s feelings as she made her offer. Alaska shot her a surprised look at the uncharacteristic Trixie behaviour.

Sure, Trixie often interrupted Katya when they were bantering at the bar, but no one in the shop ever spoke over the two bosses. Never in the history of their shop. Manila and Trixie knew who paid their bills, and whilst they were all good friends outside of work, when they were on shift there was a definite air of respect and authority that Shea and Alaska both commanded and exuded.

Katya, on the other hand, just looked grateful. Herself and Sasha had both lived in New York for some months now, but they’d been so busy with work that they’d not ventured far beyond their street, and never alone. Now Sasha was nowhere to be seen, Katya was grateful to be navigating the unfamiliar streets with someone that knew them well, lessening the chances on having to send out two search parties, one for Sasha and one for Katya.

“Thanks Trix, you’re an angel,” Katya was telling her with soft eyes, Trixie once more colouring under the intensity of her piercing blue irises.

Alaska appraised the pair, picking up on an odd vibe that she wasn’t sure she liked. This she’d have to keep an eye on. Just because Shea had told her point blank that getting together with Katya couldn’t happen right now, not with Jinkx sniffing around and Willam having moved back to town with Courtney, didn’t mean that she was going to let the Russian just shack up with someone else. Not even if that someone else was Trixie, who Alaska knew would treat Katya in the way she deserved to be treated. No matter how lovely Trixie was, she wasn’t Alaska.

But she couldn’t stop the pair traipsing around New York alone together. Not when their mission was finding Sasha, someone Alaska had grown to know, admire, and love. Any other scenario and Alaska knew she’d have been able to find a reason to keep Trixie on shift for another hour or so, but she couldn’t- she couldn’t let the fearful look on Katya’s face deepen the lines on her forehead any further. This was a sacrifice she was willing to make, if only to make the sunshine in Katya’s eyes reappear.

“Would you like a coffee while you wait?” Alaska asked instead, resolving to make herself as helpful as she could be from where she was stood behind the counter. She was on the closing shift, there was no way she could skive off and help Katya in the way she so desired. But what she could do was keep her attention away from Trixie for as long as possible, lest Katya become entranced by the way the wisps falling out of Trixie’s bun fell so prettily around her face, or the way the apron stopped tantalisingly mere inches above Trixie’s knees.

Katya nodded, moving away from Trixie at the register to tell Alaska, further down the bar, what she wanted. It was the unspoken rule that the employees of the shop never paid for their drinks, only food should they come in on a day off.

“Just an americano,” Katya told Alaska, her distracted tone letting Alaska know that her mind was elsewhere but, thankfully, not on Trixie. 

“With cream and sugar?” Alaska checked as she grabbed a large takeaway cup and tamped the espresso. Depending on how long it took them to find Sasha, it was going to be a long day for the blonde, and Alaska knew she was going to need the caffeine to keep her going after the initial adrenaline wore off.

Katya looked at her in surprise. “You know my order?” she asked, dragging over a high stool from a nearby table so she could sit at the bar and chat to Alaska.

Alaska shot a sideways look at Trixie, noting the blonde was now absorbed in tidying the pastry case, and hid her small smile of success. It was a small victory, considering the fact that Trixie and Katya were about to spend the entire day, or as long as it took to find Sasha, in each other’s company, but it was a victory nonetheless.

“It’s not a hard one to remember,” Alaska replied, interjected just enough flirtatious laughter to keep the moment light, without going too far. Shea’s warning still rang in her ear, and she wasn’t about to risk everything she had, no matter how blue Katya’s eyes were or how full her lips. She was just going to risk enough to keep Katya interested and away from Trixie until Alaska was a free woman. That was all she had to do. Keep Katya interested, keep Trixie at bay, sort her life out. Sounded simple enough, right?

“But it is a delicious one,” Katya told her brightly, the familiar toothy grin tainted with the worry that was hanging around the edges of Katya, blurring her usual sharpness.

“If you say so,” Alaska rolled her eyes as she added obscene amounts of creamer to Katya’s cup, before adding a lid and handing it over to the blonde, whose mouth was hanging open in mock indignation.

“I’ll have you know that this is better than that black coffee crap you drink,” Katya batted back, opening up the lid and blowing gently across the surface of the liquid, Alaska’s eyes mesmerised by the pursed red lips painted the familiar pillar box red that Katya favoured.

Before Katya came along, Alaska hadn’t known that a red that red even existed. But then Katya had blustered into her life, larger than life with the lips to match, always perfectly painted and moving with her love of life and the joy she found in each and every moment, red lips only accentuating pearly white teeth, and contrasting icy blue eyes. It was a perfect combination, one that haunted Alaska’s every waking moment.

“Black coffee crap?” was all Alaska said, raising a perfectly preened eyebrow as she prepared to do battle against Katya.

“You heard me,” Katya challenged, looking up at Alaska through thick black lashes, just the right amount of flirtatiousness held in her voice and expression.

Unfortunately for both of them, Trixie interrupted, not willing to let the interaction go on for a second longer than she absolutely had to, the thick sexual tension between the pair obvious even from where she had been stood down the other end of the counter, head bent over the pastry case so neither saw the tears that salted the caramel cake she held in her hands.

“Shall we?” Trixie asked breezily, pulling the alligator clasp out of her hair and shaking the perfect blonde curls down over her shoulders. Katya watched, momentarily mesmerised by the way the light caught the slight golden shimmer. Alaska watched, stomach sinking as she saw Katya’s fleeting attentions trapped by the blonde in a way that only Trixie knew how to do.

This situation was beginning to feel eerily familiar, old thoughts and feelings rising in Alaska that she’d not had to think about in months, the guilt rising when Shea broke uninvited into her thoughts. If she was there, Alaska knew what she’d say. It was happening again, and Alaska was powerless to stop it, even though she knew how badly everything had ended last time.

Hell, it hadn’t ended from last time. That was why Alaska was finding herself back in this situation, unable to shut her feelings for Katya off and unable to be with her.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Katya replied when she’d managed to put her eyes back in, her gaze momentarily raking over the pink puffa jacket Trixie had thrown over her black skirt and white shirt combination, pairing it with her pink boots and a bobble hat.

It was so Trixie and so cute Katya nearly fell over as she hopped off her stool, Trixie automatically throwing out a hand to steady Katya’s elbow. Katya swallowed hard, glancing up at Trixie through long eyelashes as she thanked her in an unusual, breathy voice.

Alaska felt unbidden murderous thoughts rise up through her as she witnessed the interaction. That was my look, she seethed internally, unable to stop the pair without giving everything away and making their next shift together supremely uncomfortable. And besides - they’d gone now. The perfectly mismatched pair had linked arms and walked out the shop without even a backwards look for Alaska, so wrapped up in each other they were.

 

Alaska let her head fall against the cool metal of the espresso machine. She was fucked, and Shea was going to kill her. That was the truth of the matter. Despite knowing what she should do, she didn’t know what she was going to do. She only knew it was going to ruin her life.

Again.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which someone is found, and someone else seems to have been forgotten about

“Where do you think she could be?” Trixie asked as the two blondes exited the shop, arms linked together. Katya shrugged, looking morosely up and down the crowded street she’d come to know so well.

“I don’t know,” was all she said, turning her head to look at Trixie. “We still don’t know New York very well, we’ve not had much chance to explore. The first week we got here we just.. stayed inside mostly, and then we got the jobs at the shop and we’ve been busy ever since.”

Under any other circumstances, Trixie would have cackled loudly at the look on Katya’s face. She had never seen anyone look quite so despondent, and in fact was sure that Katya could have entered a competition to see who could pull the saddest face and make the most money from well meaning strangers looking to do a good deed.

“Is there any where you’ve been in the city yet that Sasha might have gone back to? Or-“ Trixie trailed off, her face lighting up as an idea struck her. “Hey, has Sasha mentioned anywhere in New York that she’s really wanted to go to? She might have taken the opportunity to visit, and just not told you!”

Trixie’s idea struck Katya as a rather good one, and she beamed at the blonde, racking her brain for any recollection of any place in New York Sasha might have mentioned since they’d moved. Katya had the memory of an ant, and didn’t often pay attention to anything that wasn’t about herself or food, but she did remember a late night conversation several weeks ago, held over pizza and wine, wishes spoken softly into the air between the two girls and hanging there tantalisingly, reminding them of why they moved to America in the first place.

“There’s- there’s this book shop. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I remember Sasha told me that there’s this book shop that she really wanted to go and visit,” Katya’s face was bright as she relayed this information to Trixie. Trixie’s face, however, fell, and Katya stared at her in confusion. “Why do you look like that? We have somewhere to go and look now!”

Trixie laughed. The more time she spent with Katya, the more she realised that the Russian truly wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met. She didn’t know how Sasha had put up with her for so many years, the other Russian being more on the sensible, quiet side, but she could also appreciate how the chalk and cheese personalities would click so well, especially in a tiny town like the one Sasha had told her stories about growing up in.

“Kat, there isn’t just one book store in New York. It’s a big city, and a city where a lot of people like to read. If you really can’t remember the name of it, you’re going to have to be a little bit more specific, and we can either do a quick Google search, or I might have heard of it if we’re really lucky.”

As Trixie hit home the truth, Katya’s face fell, and she chewed on the loose piece of skin on her lip as she tried to recall the exact conversation they’d been having. She could quite clearly recollect what she’d been saying about wanting to feed the ducks in Central Park, and finding a yoga studio nearby their apartment that she could go and take classes in, but Sasha’s side of the conversation was a dim, faded memory.

“Do you ever pay attention to anything anyone says?” Trixie asked, amused, as she watched the expressive blonde run through every emotion from despair to joy. Katya flushed, a deep pink that rose unbidden on her cheeks under Trixie’s scrutiny.

“Yes,” she defended, knowing that if Trixie probed any further her defence was quickly going to crumble.

“So you remember what I was telling you yesterday when we were on bar together?”

Katya paused as Trixie questioned her. Katya knew that she didn’t remember, and she knew that Trixie knew that she didn’t know, but she was determined to stick to her guns.

“You were telling me how incredible I am at making drinks, and that you’ve never seen a flat white quite like my flat white,” Katya said brightly, her tone one of absolute conviction. Trixie burst out laughing, unable to argue with the blonde.

“I don’t know how you do it, but you could convince me to buy snow if we were in the Arctic,” Trixie told her, before glancing up and down the street, realising that they’d not moved since they’d exited the shop, and that they should probably get going if they wanted any chance of finding Sasha before dark. “Do you remember anything?”

Katya bit her lip once again. “No,” she admitted, not wanting to show defeat but knowing Trixie needed her to be slightly sensible. “But I do know Sasha, and I know she loves anything arty or political.”

“Arty or political, right.” Trixie fell silent as she ran through various destinations in her mind, trying them on and discarding them as places she couldn’t ever see Sasha in. Luckily she’d gotten to know the Russian quite well through working with her, and she’d know if something fit the girl like a neat cardigan. “I doubt she’s gone far out then, this is Sasha’s kind of borough.”

Katya nodded. “That’s why we moved here. Sasha chose it, I just went along with her. She said that there was nowhere else on earth that would accept her quite like this place,” Katya said, almost proudly as she gestured to the buildings around them.

“Maybe we should just have a wander around then. If Sasha still doesn’t know this place well, I’m sure that’s what she’s done.”

Plan made, the two set off down the street, Katya stepping carefully to make sure she didn’t place her feet on the cracks in between the worn paving stones. Trixie watched her in a sort of amazed bemusement, knowing better than to ask Katya what she was doing. Instead, she turned the conversation back to the topic she’d been trying to bring up since the Russian had entered the coffee shop towards the end of her shift.

“I really enjoyed last night,” Trixie said, making sure to keep her tone light and airy, but at the same time interjecting a flirtatious note as she glanced over towards Katya, long eyelashes fluttering.

“So did I,” Katya replied warmly, not entirely sure why knowing Trixie had had a good time made her heart race and her stomach feel knotted. Of course, Trixie was her plan B, but she wasn’t Alaska.

“We should go out for dinner again sometime. If you enjoyed that restaurant, there’s about fifty others that you’re going to love even more,” Trixie returned, the smile Katya gave her making her knees feel like jelly.

“Fifty others?” Katya said, her tone holding a light teasing note as she glanced from side to side, hoping that a miracle would happen and the bookshop Sasha had been talking about would just appear. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were just trying to get me to go on more dates with you.”

Trixie flushed a deep pink, and ducked her head so that Katya wouldn’t see her reaction to the Russian hitting the proverbial nail on the head. Trixie had a real chance here to get under Katya’s skin, and get her thoughts away from the leggy blonde back in the coffee shop. If Trixie could just- all she needed was Katya to give her the chance to show her just why she would be so much better in the long run, Alaska being her boss be damned. There would always be other jobs.

There would never be another Katya.

“Just trying to keep you in the city,” Trixie replied once she’d managed to gather her thoughts again, her flirtatious tone at odds with her clunky responses. “We don’t want you disappearing back off to Russia before you’ve tried the every single type of cheesy pasta known to the good people of New York.”

Katya laughed, the loud wheeze that Trixie had come to know and love scaring a nearby child, and making the pigeons on the wires above their heads fly away.

“The cheesy pasta is definitely the only reason we’re still here,” Katya told her, the solemn tone a direct contrast to the bright joy sparkling in Katya’s eyes.

“I knew it,” Trixie grinned, before pulling Katya to a halt and looking dubiously up and down the street. “ I can’t see any bookstores nearby- do you think we should turn off here, or carry on down Allen Street?” Trixie questioned, rolling her eyes at the confusion flashing across Katya’s face at Trixie’s words.

“You have no idea, do you?’ Trixie added, laughing as Katya nodded. “Well- it can’t hurt to just keep walking. If Sasha doesn’t know this place well- she might have done that.”

Relieved that someone else had taken charge and made the decision for her, Katya looked both ways for traffic and, seeing nothing coming, dragged Trixie across the road so the pair could continue on. She didn’t want to admit it, but there was a small, selfish part of her that wished that it would take them all day to find Sasha so that she could spend more time in Trixie’s company and get to know the small blonde better outside of their work place. Trixie had a magnetising personality, and knew how to crack a joke better than anyone Katya had ever known before, including herself. Such high praise wasn’t given to many people, and Katya was grateful that her lust for Alaska had led her to the shop and the people that weren’t Alaska contained inside.

What she didn’t know was whether or not she viewed Trixie just as a friend, or whether the feelings bubbling below the surface had more to them than Katya cared to find out. It would make her life so much easier if she just had bedroom feelings for Alaska, and living room feelings for Trixie. And if she had to force it to be that way, then by god she was going to.

“Trixie!” Katya’s voice came out louder than intended, and the blonde girl next to her nearly fell over in shock. Katya quickly shot out a hand and gripped onto Trixie tightly to stop her from going any further towards the ground. “Sorry,” she added, looking so sheepish Trixie forgave her on the spot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Trixie told her with a laugh, dusting down her skirt and adjusting the bag on her back again. “You- you’re stronger than you look,” she continued, the words almost involuntary. A pale pink crept up her cheeks, the flushed colour doing weird things to the inside of Katya’s chest.

“I used to do a lot of yoga. And gymnastics,” Katya told her by way of explanation, before gesturing across the street. “But look! There’s a bookshop. We should go and see if Sasha’s in there. And if she’s not, it looks like there’s a cafe, and I’m hungry.”

Trixie looked at her in disbelief. “Kat, you’ve only just eaten.”

Katya shrugged.

“Yeah, but I want cake,” she said, grasping hold of Trixie’s hand and tugging the blonde across the street, Trixie’s heart beginning to race as Katya did so.

Although Trixie couldn’t quite work out whether it was because of the warmth of Katya’s fingers entangled with her own, or because Katya hadn’t looked to see whether or not there was a gap in the traffic for them to cross, and a large truck was quickly bearing down on them. Seeing the gap grow ever smaller, Trixie decided that it was more likely to be the vehicle, and broke into a run. Flushed and panting, the two girls made it safely onto the sidewalk, and Trixie let go of Katya’s hand so she could feel her own pulse and make sure she was definitely still alive.

“Any particular reason you tried to get us killed?” Trixie gasped, panting. Katya just laughed, seemingly already recovered from their near death experience.

“I thought it was clear,” Katya told her, feeling slightly guilty. She hadn’t meant to terrify the life out of the blonde.

“You didn’t even look!” Trixie retorted, her tone accusing. Katya felt her face flush, knowing Trixie was right, and knowing Trixie had the ability to read her like a book after all the hours they’d spent in perfect harmony on the bar.

Katya had never clicked with anybody in the way that she’d clicked with Trixie in their workplace, and a small part of her wondered whether or not that perfect tandem would work in a setting outside of the coffee shop. A bigger part of her selfishly didn’t want to find out, too scared to realise that perhaps Alaska wasn’t the perfect person for her after all.

“I- that doesn’t matter. Look, bookshop,” Katya repeated once more, pointing to the large, glass fronted store that loomed above them, the windows holding tantalising displays of various books, slogans plastered across the glass. “This looks like Sasha’s kind of place.”

Both of their minds fixed firmly back on the task at hand, Trixie lead the way to the front door of the shop and pushed her way in, Katya following closely behind. The smell hit them at once, the slightly woodsy scent of new books mixed in with the musk of old, all faintly tinged with a hint of the coffee served in the cafe to their right. Katya immediately began to grin, knowing Sasha had to be in this shop. It was everything she loved and more.

And sure enough, after a few minutes of searching the multiple aisles and floors that were contained within the shop, Trixie and Katya stumbled across a girl sat slouched in one of the old, cracked leather arm chairs, a book sat opened and unread on her lap, her eyes closed and her head resting on her hand. Trixie didn’t realise it was Sasha straight away, but Katya knew her at once, and had woken the girl up before Trixie could stop her.

“Sasha!” Katya grinned, all other thoughts flying from her head as she moved the book and plonked herself down on Sasha’s lap. “I found you!”

“I didn’t realise I was missing,” Sasha replied, speaking in Russian without realising in her state of half-asleep. “What- what are you doing here?”

Trixie looked at Sasha in complete confusion as Katya explained. Realisation dawned on Sasha’s face, and she started laughing.

“Oh my god Katya, I literally texted you. You didn’t check your phone again, did you?” Sasha spluttered, her words back to English now she had woken up. Katya’s expression quickly turned sheepish, and she dropped her eyes to the floor, not wanting to admit her mistake.

Trixie looked between the two in a state of some confusion, not entirely understanding what was going on.

“You mean- you mean you told Katya where you were?” Trixie asked slowly, wanting to get to the bottom of what had happened. Sasha nodded. Katya’s continued silence spoke volumes. Trixie started laughing, Sasha joining in not long after as a hot pink colour crept up Katya’s neck and onto her cheeks.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe we just spent all morning looking for Sasha, only for her to not actually be missing,” Trixie managed to say eventually, when she’d gathered control of herself again. Katya still hadn’t said a word. It would have been different if Trixie hadn’t been there, but the thought that she’d made herself look like a complete idiot in front of Trixie was making her wish that the ground would open up and swallow her.

“This isn’t the first time Katya’s done this,” Sasha explained, unable to keep the smile off of her face. Trixie cocked her head questioningly, and Katya looked at Sasha with a pleading expression. If Sasha truly loved her she wouldn’t let on what an idiot Katya truly was.

Too late.

“The amount of times I’ve gotten phone calls from people because Katya’s convinced I’ve gone missing or been kidnapped is ridiculous,” Sasha laughed, Trixie joining in. The sound of Trixie’s laughter was usually one of the best sounds in the world, Katya was convinced, but now it just felt grating, a reminder that no matter how hard she tried, she would never truly ‘fit in’ with the majority of people. “In fact, I’m surprised this is the first time she’s done it since we’ve been here.”

Trixie glanced over at Katya, still laughing, and noted the uncomfortable expression on the Russian’s face. She knew Katya meant well, and decided to take pity on her friend, not wanting to destroy her chances at ever being with Katya because she’d spent a little too long laughing at her misfortune.

“Ah well, all’s well that ends,” Trixie told her, wrapping her fingers around the top of Katya’s arm and squeezing gently. Katya smiled back, trying to convey with her eyes that Trixie was a saint among pigeons.

“At least if you ever do get really kidnapped, you know I’ll always come and find you,” Katya chimed in, Trixie’s touch giving her the strength to chime back into the conversation. 

Sasha laughed, nodding. “I feel safe in your hands,” she said, her words holding only the merest hint of sarcasm. “Well, feel free to leave me here. I’ve still got some reading to do-” and my mind to clear, Sasha added, although not aloud. There were some things she couldn’t say in front of Trixie, not knowing the girl as well as Katya did.

Katya shifted on her feet, looking over at Trixie.

“Want to come back for coffee and doughnuts?” Katya said hopefully, wanting to make sure the day didn’t go to completely to waste, as well as continue enjoying Trixie’s company for as long as she could. Plus, Trixie had been such an angel offering to come with her, Katya wanted to repay the favour. Repay in baked goods, of course, but no one could say no to that!

Trixie grinned back, a small part of her hoping that she’d managed to achieve the goal she’d set out for herself at the beginning of their trip. There was no mention of Alaska in Katya’s words as there so often had been for the past few weeks, and Trixie was more than hopeful this was a start.

“It would be my pleasure.”


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is no food, a cosy moment, and the chance to make magic happen

“How was spending time with Trixie?” Sasha asked as she entered the apartment, throwing her keys into the little bowl they kept on the shelf beside the door, and hanging her bag on the hook. Katya looked up in surprise, having been so engaged in the TV programme she hadn’t heard Sasha’s key in the lock.

“Fine,” Katya replied slowly, not liking the knowing look in Sasha’s eye. She didn’t know what it exactly meant, but she knew from past experience it couldn’t be good.

“Just fine?” Sasha pressed, walking further into the apartment and sitting crossed legged in front of Katya, eyes bright with unasked questions.

Katya nodded, keeping her face as still as possible. “It was nice. We got doughnuts and watched a film, and then Trixie had to go home.”

“You didn’t want to ask her to stay for dinner then?”

Katya’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as she realised what Sasha was getting at. “No! We’re just friends, and she has her own apartment. Plus, she’s vegetarian, and I don’t really know what vegetables are.”

Sasha burst out laughing.

“I - I can’t argue with that,” she said, shaking her head in a long suffering way. “I don’t think you’d know what a vegetable was if it slapped you in the face and called you mom.”

“Do they do that?” Katya asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

“No! Don’t be ridiculous. But - are you sure you’re just friends? You looked awfully cosy when you came to find me, even though I wasn’t even lost.”

Katya ignored the look Sasha sent in her direction at her final words, and instead just nodded. Before shaking her head.

Sasha laughed once more. “You look confused Kat,” she said, not unkindly. “You know - Trixie is a better option for you than Alaska. For one, she’s not your boss. For two, she doesn’t seem to have the ugly past and the baggage that Alaska still does. And Kat - you really don’t need that baggage. Not now.”

Katya stayed silent, her heart torn. Sasha’s words were making more sense than she wanted them too. Long bowed legs and messy blonde space buns still dominated her waking thoughts, and haunted her dreams. Alaska was perfect in every single way, from the top of her hair to the toes that hung over the edges of her shoes. Trixie - Trixie was just Trixie. Loud, blonde, and over the top.

Katya sighed.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, keeping her voice as low as possible so that Sasha might not hear her. If the words weren’t spoken out loud, or heard by anybody, then they didn’t exist, right? No such luck.

“I can’t tell you what to do,” Sasha said with a sad smile, wishing more than anything she could restore the happy light to Katya’s eyes. “I can help you, but at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to work out who is right for you. But - I can see in Trixie’s eyes how much she likes you. I don’t see that in Alaska.”

Katya groaned, throwing her arm over her face and slumping backwards onto the couch. Deep down, she knew Sasha was right. Trixie wore her thoughts on her arm. A monkey could tell what she was feeling at any given time, and even Katya knew that Trixie had been flirting with her. Alaska on the other hand - she was a closed book. Only Shea knew what she was thinking and feeling, and Katya knew that was because they’d been friends for so long. Katya wished she had the same ability. If she just knew whether or not she had a chance with Alaska, it would make the decision process slightly more straightforward.

Knowing when she had to drop the subject in order to keep Katya reasonably happy and functional, Sasha rose to her feet and headed into their tiny kitchen.

“What do you fancy for dinner?” Sasha called over her shoulder, opening several different cupboards and peering into them. “Looks like we’ve got salsa, vodka, a lemon, and some noodles,” she added with a laugh.

“Lemon salsa vodka fest?” Katya suggested, lowering her arm and looking over at Sasha.

“As appetising as that sounds, I think we need to go grocery shopping. You coming?” Sasha asked, moving to pull her coat back on, and shoving her purse and keys into her pocket. Katya slithered off the sofa with a groan, before slipping on her flip flops and pulling an oversized Christmas jumper over her head.

Sasha burst out laughing when she turned and saw Katya’s attire.

“How you’re not on the front of Vogue, I’ll never know,” she teased, opening the door and letting Katya out first. Katya flipped her middle finger up at Sasha, and with a laugh, the two linked arms and made their way out of the apartment and down the road to the nearest grocery store.

******************************************

“Katya, we can’t just get cookies and pickles,” Sasha said despairingly as she stared into their cart. She’d put various different things in as they’d gone around the aisles, and when she wasn’t looking Katya had taken them out and replaced them with items that she wanted.

“I didn’t just put in pickles and cookies,” Katya replied, affronted, and gestured into the cart. “I got more vodka, diet coke, and some grapes. For health. All the major food groups.”

Sasha slapped a hand to her face. “I’m shopping with an actual toddler,” she muttered, stalking down the aisle and picking up more things that they actually needed. “If you pull that stunt one more time, I’m sending you to the front of the st-Shea!”

“You’re sending me to the front of the Shea?” Katya asked in confusion, having not seen their boss round the end of the aisle they were in, basket in hand, and Alaska stood two steps behind her.

Sasha ignored her friend, and waved in Shea’s direction as she pushed the cart closer, thankful that she might actually be able to get some proper, adult conversation.

“Hey,” she greeted, a soft smile playing across her lips as she looked up at Shea through long lashes. “I didn’t think you and Alaska lived around here?”

“We don’t,” Shea replied, before leaning in to air kiss Sasha’s cheek. “We’ve shut up the shop for the day, and then realised we didn’t have anything in for dinner because someone forgot to go shopping yesterday.” 

Shea finished her sentence by throwing a glare in Alaska’s direction, who threw her hands up in her defense.

“Woah, you fully said you were going to take care of it,” Alaska chipped in, trying to redeem herself in front of Katya, who was stood beside Sasha now and trying not to laugh.

“We’ve had to come do the same thing,” Katya explained to them, gesturing towards the cart that Sasha was pushing. Suddenly, an idea flitted into her head and her eyes lit up. “Hey, why don’t you guys come back with us for dinner? Our apartment is way closer, and it’s getting rather late.”

Shea and Alaska exchanged a quick glance as Sasha looked over in Katya’s direction, suspicious that she had an ulterior motive, but not entirely sure what it was.

“If you guys don’t mind,” Alaska began, smiling when Katya shook her head. “Well, at least let us pay.”

Sasha began to protest that that absolutely wasn’t necessary, but before she could get very far, Shea had prised the shopping cart out of her hands and was beginning to wheel it towards the checkout area. Sasha hurried after her, grateful that at the very least she’d managed to throw the basics that she needed to make dinner into the cart before they’d bumped into Shea and Alaska.

“This- this is an interesting shop,” Shea said to Sasha as the two placed everything onto the belt, Sasha laughing.

“Most of this was Katya’s idea,” Sasha told her, pointing back to Katya, who was stood engaged in conversation with Alaska. “There’s a reason we never come shopping together.”

Shea grinned. “Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. She’s - rather unique.”

The only reply Sasha gave was a snort, and the two unloaded and packed away the shopping in companionable silence, both knowing it was no use to ask Katya and Alaska to do anything. They knew they would happily help out, but they knew if either of them did the task would take ten times longer than it needed to. Finally the deed was done, and Shea was stowing away the receipt into her purse.

“Thank you so much,” Sasha said quietly, wrapping an arm around Shea and hugging her quickly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, if we’re going to impose on you for the evening, it’s the least we could do,” Shea replied, picking up several of the bags and leaving the rest for the others. “It’ll be nice to have some company that isn’t just Alaska, as much as I love her.”

“It’ll be nice to have some real conversation,” Sasha replied, ignoring Katya’s protests from behind her. “Shall we?”

********************************************

The evening passed in harmonious joy. It was like one of those evenings you read about, or see in magazines or in commercials. The food was delicious, the apartment was warm and cosy with a multitude of flickering scented candles and fairy lights hung everywhere, the wine flowed, and the conversation was easy, not forced. Sasha honestly couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend her time. Katya had almost completely forgotten Trixie even existed. 

It was getting late now. The dishes were stacked in the sink (Katya had placed them there and declared that they were “tomorrow’s problem”), the radio was on low, and the four women were gathered in the living room, each with a wine glass in hand and occasionally dipping into the box of cookies placed on the coffee table.

“We should do this more often,” Alaska said with a contented sigh as she sipped at the rich red liquid in her glass. The other three nodded.

“It’s been blissful,” Katya declared, sinking back into the couch and shifting slightly closer towards Alaska. She’d made it so that herself and Alaska had one couch to themselves, and Shea and Sasha were cosied together on the large swivel chair in the corner.

“I really don’t want to leave,” Shea added, glancing from the cosy interior to the frosted glass of the window that gave away just how cold it was outside.

“You can always stay the night,” Sasha said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. A faint blush crept up her face as she realised the implications of her words, and she quickly hid her face in her wine glass, ignoring Katya’s laugh from the corner.

“We don’t want to put you-” Shea started, but she was quickly interrupted by Katya.

“No, stay. It makes sense. It’s so late now, by the time you get home it’ll be nearly time to get up again. I’m on the open with Alaska, and you’re not in much later Shea, and we literally live across the road from the shop” Katya said quickly, her mind going into overdrive as she worked out how she could make it so Alaska shared her room, and Shea shared Sasha’s.

Shea and Alaska shared another quick glance, both of them communicating without words. Katya made a good point. It would take them ages to get home, and they’d only be coming back to virtually the same place in a few hours. Besides, if they stayed, they wouldn’t have to battle the elements, and they could hear the wind getting stronger and stronger outside the apartment block.

And neither of them would admit it, but their thoughts were running along the same line as Katya’s.

All four of them had a chance now, to make the first move and let their feelings be known. All that was left was to see how the night played out.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which discussions are had, feelings are explored, and our girls discover each other for the first time

The relaxed mood that had fallen over the four girls during the course of the evening began to lift with Katya’s words. Alaska lifted a hand to her mouth to try and mask a yawn, and Shea fidgeted with the tassels lining the bottom of her crop top. Although it went unspoken, each of them knew that this night would change things between them, possibly forever, and it might not be for the better.

Katya’s whole body hummed with excitement, and she could barely keep her legs from bouncing up and down with the excess energy. Feigning tiredness, she let her mouth open wide and yawned, rubbing at her eyes.

“Well, I’m going to turn in,” she announced to the room as a whole, but directed her gaze at Alaska. Alaska’s cheeks turned a pale pink, and she rose from her chair.

“It makes sense for me to share your room,” she said, her suggestion holding an underlying statement. 

Sasha and Shea nodded. 

“I don’t want to be woken up early when I don’t have to be in until later, and I’m sure Sasha doesn’t either,” Shea laughed, thanking whoever was out there that she wouldn’t have to share a room with Katya, as much as she loved the batshit crazy Russian. 

Katya grinned, motioning to her door.

“To bed then, princess,” she grinned, Alaska laughing and following her into the room, the door closing behind them with a final sounding ‘click’.

Sasha felt suddenly nervous now she was alone in the living room with Shea, the only sound permeating the silence the low hum of the radio in the corner. She shifted slightly in her seat, clammy thighs sticking to the worn brown leather of the chair.

“So, uh-” Sasha started, grasping around frantically in her mind for a conversational topic, but everything she thought of either seemed stupid, childish, too heavy, or a mixture of all three.

She looked up at Shea in desperation, hoping beyond hope that Shea would have something witty to say, but was instead floored by the look in Shea’s eye. It was familiar and unfamiliar all at the same time. It was warm and inviting, and sent shivers down Sasha’s spine, rendering her mute and unable to look away.

“I was thinking we could…do something else, instead,” Shea said, her voice deep and low and husky.  
Sasha swore she’d never heard a sexier sound. 

“I - uh - “

But before Sasha could continue, Shea had bent her head and placed a gentle kiss to Sasha’s lips, pulling back after a second to silently ask if Sasha was okay with what she was doing.

Sasha was more than okay.

Shea’s kiss had sparked something deep inside her, something raw and primal and hungry that wanted more. Sasha shifted in her seat slightly so her hands could get a better grip in Shea’s shirt, and so her mouth could fit more comfortably onto the contours of Shea’s lips.

It was what she had wanted for so long. It was what she’d dreamt about since that first day in the shop, and she couldn’t believe that it was here, and it was happening, and this was real.

But a word rose in the back of her mind, unbidden and unwanted and loud enough to shatter Sasha’s dreams.

We’d.

The last time Sasha and Shea had had any kind of conversation pertaining to relationships, Shea had made it clear to Sasha that neither her nor Alaska were in a position to have one. That their shop was their priority, and after Alaska’s messy past with her ex and her ex-friend, that they needed to invest all their energy into their shop. But now Alaska was in a room alone with Katya and Shea was kissing her and Sasha didn’t know what was going on or where she stood. But what she did know was that she wasn’t about to let Shea play her for the fool. She wasn’t about to let Shea kiss her and touch her and… 

Sasha pulled away, moving as far away from Shea as she could get on the seat. Shea looked at her, dazed, her eyes filled with a lust that was morphing into confusion. If she’d read the signals right, Sasha had wanted this as much as she herself did. But now the Russian had pulled away with tears glistening at the edges of her eyes and Shea didn’t know what to do.

“Sasha?” she said, her brain pulling itself back into reality and away from the blissful cloud she’d drifted off onto when Sasha’s lips had been on hers.

Sasha chewed at the loose skin on the edge of her lip, pulling her limbs into her body and making herself as small as possible, not allowing any part of her to touch Shea. 

“Why did you do that?”

********************************************

“I’m more of an ass girl,” Katya’s words floated out from the closet into which she’d inserted herself to try and find something for Alaska to wear to bed that wouldn’t be comically short on the taller girl. 

Alaska chuckled as she poked around Katya’s room, pulling open the lids of the various boxes and chests scattered around. She’d never seen quite so much stuff fit into one tiny room, and she’d definitely not seen such an eclectic mix. Katya’s had everything from tiny doll’s heads and hands, to an insane collection of knives chucked haphazardly into a box, to every shade of red lipstick under the sun. It was like getting an unfiltered look into Katya’s brain, and whilst Alaska couldn’t pretend to understand it, she was definitely enjoying it.

“Is that because you don’t have one?” she inquired, keeping her eyes on the door of the closet.

Sure enough, seconds later Katya tumbled out of the small space, hair in her eyes and indignant look on her face.

“What do you mean?!” she huffed, pushing the blonde tendrils away impatiently. “I have a lovely ass!”

With this statement Katya turned around and bent over, her short dress and apparent inability to wear any kind of hosiery or reasonably modest underwear meaning that Alaska had a better view than she could ever have asked for. 

“Katya, I can see what you had for dinner three days ago,” Alaska told her, trying to hide the grin that wanted to plaster itself across her face.

Katya straightened up again, turning to face Alaska once more and levelling her gaze at the taller blonde. Alaska suddenly shivered, not liking the look that had appeared in the Russian’s eye. 

“Are you flirting with me?” Katya asked, her own tone holding a flirtatious note to it. She grinned triumphantly as two pink spots appeared in the middle of Alaska’s cheeks and began to creep down to her neck. “I knew it!” she crowed, doing a dance around the room.

Alaska laughed at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. She had truly never met someone even vaguely like Katya, which made her only the more appealing.

“Wait,” Katya stopped her dancing and stood stock still at the side of the room, wide and earnest gaze fixed on Alaska. “I want you to flirt with me, and I want to flirt with you, but people keep mentioning messy baggage and no one will tell me what actually happened because Sasha went missing before I could find out.”

Alaska understood only some of what Katya was wittering on about, but it was enough to send her blood running cold. Messy baggage. This was what she’d been afraid of all along, that Katya and her past would collide in a supernova of shit. 

“I -” Alaska broke off, not knowing what to say and how to say it. She didn’t know what Katya knew, if anything. She didn’t know what Sasha had been told or who’s lips it had fallen from. All she did know was that if she wanted to have something with Katya, keep her friendship with Shea ticking along, stop Trixie getting her claws into Katya any further, and not lose the shop, she had to be careful with her words.

“Take a seat,” Alaska sighed, knowing that at the very least they had to have this conversation. It wasn’t fair on Katya to leave her question hanging in the air. It wasn’t fair on Katya to be led on any further if she didn’t want to deal with the past that tried to insert itself into Alaska’s future.

Katya, despite the room and the apartment being hers, obeyed instantly. She took her seat on the bed, tucking her legs underneath her, and blinking wide, icy blue eyes up at Alaska who had perched on the very edge of the only chair in the room. 

“I- I had these friends. Jinkx, Willam, and Courtney. They were all friends with Shea and I, and we all went to school together. We were inseparable.”

 

Unbidden memories rose in Alaska’s mind, assaulting her senses with long forgotten scents and images and sounds. Endless hot summer days morphed into cosy winters nights turned into glasses of sparkling pink rose faded away to the sounds of late night laughter. Alaska smiled, the sadness in her eyes betraying the hurt she still felt.

“It was good. I loved all of them more than I loved life itself. I thought we’d be friends forever, but feelings got involved and- it turned messy. During high school Courtney and I had a thing without knowing that that in turn made Willam and Jinkx jealous and-” Alaska broke off here, spying the confusion on Katya’s face and knowing there was no real way she could explain the intricacies of the situation to someone who wasn’t there and didn’t know the girls she was talking about. “Long story short, it blew up, I ended up with Jinkx for a couple of years and the other two moved away. Then things turned sour with Jinkx- she ended up not being the person I fell in love with and I had to end it. That’s- that’s basically it.”

Alaska surreptitiously crossed her fingers where Katya couldn’t see them, praying that eventually she would be forgiven for lying to the Russian. She just...couldn’t bring herself to tell Katya the whole truth and drive her away forever. It was selfish, yes, but goddammit it was about time Alaska got to put herself first. She’d been putting Shea and the shop first for so long she couldn’t stand it any longer. And if she knew her friend, Shea would be shoving her tongue as far down Sasha’s throat as it would fit, which meant that she’d broke her side of the bargain, which meant (in Alaska’s mind) she was free to do as she wished. 

Katya was silent for a few moments as she mulled over what Alaska had said. She had, in all honesty, been expecting a lot worse. Eventually she lifted her head, her eyes bright as she gestured to the space in the bed beside her.

“Why are you still over there in the cold?” she practically purred, her voice low and husky and probably designed to drive Alaska as mad as possible. 

Alaska smiled, unfolding her limbs from the chair and climbing into the bed beside Katya, her eyelashes long and fluttering and her hand placed on Katya’s upper thigh.

“I’ve heard body heat is the best cure for these New York winter’s,” Alaska told her, moving her hand further up Katya’s thigh, trying not to show her pleasure as Katya made small, breathy noises.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” was all the Russian could reply.

*******************************************

Shea stared helplessly at Sasha. She couldn’t work out what the Russian was feeling, had no idea why she’d pulled away. One moment Sasha had been trying to get as close as possible without actually fusing herself to Shea, the next she was pulling away and trying to get as far away as physically possible without actually moving from the seat.

“What do you mean?” she asked when she’d gathered as many of her wits as she could. 

Sasha bit her lip. “I-” she paused, wanting to phrase her question in the right way, not wanting to sound like the biggest idiot to hit the face of the earth. “I didn’t think you were looking for - I won’t let you lead me on and just - we’d!”

Shea was baffled. Sasha was making no sense, and with every second that passed she could feel the imprint of Sasha’s lips fade from her own, and she was scared that if she let them go entirely she’d never get them back. 

“Sasha, please - I just want to know what you mean,” she said, keeping her voice as soft and neutral as she could manage.

“Shea, please tell me that when you kiss me, you’re not just kissing me for tonight and tomorrow you’ll act like it never happened,” Sasha eventually managed to say, her eyes wide and pleading.

Suddenly the meaning behind Sasha’s words dawned on Shea as the conversation they’d had in the fading light of the shop came rushing back to her.

“You think I’m not looking for a relationship right now, don’t you?” Shea asked, unable to stop the laughter that rose in her throat and spilled out over her lips.

Sasha nodded, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment as she ducked her head away from Shea’s gaze. Shea’s eyes softened and she moved closer to Sasha, long fingers gently situating themselves under Sasha’s chin and raising her head.

“Babe, I would break any rules if it meant I got to be with you.”

Sasha’s eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly.

“You mean it?” she asked, nervous and exhilarated and scared to hear the answer. 

“Can I kiss you again?” was all Shea had. Sasha nodded, and before she could even think to open her mouth and talk again, Shea had gathered her into the warmest, strongest, safest embrace Sasha had ever experienced.

The Russian melted, lips falling onto Shea’s, their limbs tangling, the two in Katya’s room forgotten, the whole world around them ceasing to mean anything as they explored each other for the first time, the lover’s meeting witnessed only by the angels Katya had strung up around the room.


End file.
